After the Turning
by GriseldaKickButt
Summary: The world's only two demon lords want to marry Jane. What happens? Madness. Her life isn't so bad. Getting shunned by her schoolmates isn't that bad-compared to what these two monsters are giving her that is. Blood? Check. Ancient prophecy? Check. Hot possessive demon lord? Double check. Oh god.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

** A Change of Tides**

My parents were downstairs making breakfast again. It was pretty obvious due to their laughter and the clinking of the pots and pans. I glanced at my alarm clock, my vision still blurry. It was just half past six. Rolling over, I fell back into my slumber. Mornings were the bane of my life. It wasn't just weekday mornings; school wasn't the reason why I hated them so much. My body simply didn't react well to waking up too early.

My mother, Mrs. Monica Gessner, knocked gently on the door.

"I'm awake." I groaned as I tried to sit up, though my body inevitably tumbled back down onto the bed.

She pushed the door slightly open. 'Jane sweetie, it's time for school." Her voice was perky and high-pitched, which sounded nothing like mine—it had a mellower tone. Sometimes I wondered if we were truly related, my parents were very different from me. My features were sharper and finer than their rounded faces. Even our hairs were colored differently. I had long wavy jet black hair, while they were brunettes.

It puzzled me greatly but whenever I asked them about it, they would reaffirm that I was a hundred percent theirs. Others weren't so kind though— people gossip. "Haven't you heard? She's adopted." That's what they all said in school.

"Hmmm," I mumbled as I readied myself to get up; my eyes were still closed. My mother was waiting patiently. I threw my sheets to my side, paused, before taking in a deep breath. _Why do mornings have to suck so much? _It needed forever but I finally managed to sit up. My eyelids were half-open. "I'm awake," I said again. But my mind was still clouded.

"Get ready quickly then you can nap in the car later okay? Your dad made pancakes," my dad made pancakes every day. I was entirely sick of it and was short of telling my mother off, but I couldn't hurt their feelings, they were such lovely people.

I gave her a faint smile. "Okay mom," I said as I steadied my dizzy head. She smiled back at me before leaving my room.

Slowly I made my way to my wardrobe. I picked up a dress and shrugged it on, not bothering how it looked like. They all looked the same: decorated with grandmother lace and old-fashioned flowery textiles. Grandma sent all my clothing to me. They were fashioned by her terrible taste, not that it mattered—those people at school would gawk at me regardless of what I wore. Besides, it was really nice of her to send them to me; each one of them must have required a lot of effort.

Glancing at my small mirror that was on the table I scowled at me. My mother told me that I had a beautiful face, but I looked at my eyes with disgust. Perhaps it was their odd sea-green color or my pale face that made everyone not like me. _Monster. _I shook my head. No, it wasn't my appearance. I just didn't want to accept the truth or all those things that happened before. I could hurt people… easily. Angrily I faced the mirror down, not wanting to look at myself.

Breakfast tasted like the usual. Pancakes. I picked at my food. Never was I a big eater anyway.

I was a small town girl, living in a sub-urban sprawl with houses never getting any taller than two stories. Everybody knew everybody in Whiterly Oaks. They sure knew me, and definitely all those rumors about me. Half of them were true. I tapped my fingers on the leather seat as my mother drove through the town.

"Thanks mom," I kissed her cheek and waved her goodbye when I reached school. As part of the daily routine, my mother hugged me and wished me luck before driving off. I gave her the best fake smile I had. _Whatever. _I kicked a can on the sidewalk and tucked my hands into the pockets Grandma sewed on. _I'm never lucky at school. _

As I walked through the halls, people parted as if I were Moses walking through the Red Sea; just that instead of making me feel great and powerful, I felt like a disgusting piece of garbage that nobody wanted to touch. I tried to get used to their stares and whispers, but it was something that was impossible to get used to. I walked past them with a hunch, trying to guard myself from their onslaughts of gossip. Some of my schoolmates backed off slightly when I flashed them a foul look. _I hate them. _

My first class that day was algebra. Math was my worst subject, but I still could get an A in it, though I would much rather prefer sitting in a literature class. All my schoolmates always gossiped about my good grades - they say I cheat.

Ms. Scott, our teacher, strolled casually into the classroom. She was stoic, like most math teachers. I furrowed my brows when I saw the guy that followed her in. He wasn't from around here, a new student most likely. He was good looking, though I didn't pay much attention; I went back to reading my notes after I saw him. The only thing that stood out to me was his black hair, because it was similar to mine. The other students were more interested in him however. They started chattering more loudly when he entered, no doubt sizing him up or having some bimbo talk about his "hotness".

"Attention students," Ms. Scott said. Her tone was always reprimanding. It was because of that stuck-up personality of hers. "We have someone new joining us today."

The new guy didn't smile or say hi, just nodded. He narrowed his eyes and scanned the classroom for something; quirky fellow. Some of the girls sighed when his gaze met theirs. _Is he really that good looking? _I was about to look down, but then I froze— his eyes were staring straight into mine.

I let out an inaudible gasp. _What the hell? _I just froze. I really did just freeze when he looked at me. People were simply not my thing, how could I let myself get captured in the eyes of one? The new guy then smirked, and I nearly thought that I stopped breathing. My cheeks flushed. I looked down quickly, hiding my face.

"Why don't you introduce yourself," Ms. Scott said, sounding very impatient. She was definitely annoyed by the long silence.

"Jason Hearth," he replied. It seemed like he was brushing her off from the tone of his voice.

"Well, Mr. Hearth, why don't you take that seat behind Ms. Gessner over there?" _Behind me!_ My body tensed when he moved past me. I kept my eyes focused on the desk, not wanting to exchange glances with him once more.

Just minutes after he took his seat, there was a tap on my shoulder.

"Yes?" I turned around and hissed. I didn't intend to sound harsh, but this guy was getting me really agitated, not that I knew why. He was making me feel so weird.

"May I borrow a pen? I seem to have forgotten my pencil case." I gaped at him rudely. Now that I had a closer look at him I could see his eyes clearly—breathtaking. They were glowing silver, with a tinge of violet around his irises. _Glowing._ Do these kinds of eyes even exist? Then I thought about my own.

"Well can I?" His smooth, dark voice broke me out of my trance; I was ashamed to find myself staring.

"Sorry?" I asked, absent-mindedly. I must have looked like a complete fool.

"A pen, you know, those inky sticks that you use to write?" He smiled cockily. It almost sounded mocking, causing me to blush with embarrassment.

"Oh yes, sure, right, a pen." I quickly passed him my blue gel pen before turning back around.

Algebra was a pain. I knew all the equations and rules Mrs. Lee was talking about rather well. What irked me was the man that was sitting behind me. It could have been my imagination, but throughout the whole lesson I felt his eyes burning into my back. It was a feeling that was incredibly difficult to shake off.

"I like your hair," he made this sudden announcement as we were walking out of class. It took me completely by surprise. I was too shocked to respond. "It's really hard to find someone with the same hair color as mine, unless you're counting Asians of course, but they don't really count since they're well, Asian. But then again, race is a rather tricky matter, I mean, does it matter?" I stared at him questioningly; I didn't know what he was talking about or what I should respond to.

"Sorry am I rambling?" He looked at me and smiled. I nodded.

"Ah, I forgot to introduce myself, I'm Jason Hearth," he reached out a friendly hand which I hesitantly took a hold of. Was this person trying to set me up? I couldn't be sure.

"Our names have a similar ring to them don't they? Jason and Jane," it felt weird to admit it but it was true, I gave him a slow nod. Then I realized something amiss.

"How did you know my name?"

"Are you kidding? This place is chock full of gossip about you, something about you lighting little kittens on fire, I find them quite amusing actually," I was glad that he didn't believe them, he seemed to have at least half a brain. Something about him told me that he had more.

"It's lunchtime; do you have a lunch date?"

"No," I politely responded, "I sit alone."

"Don't mind if I intrude then?" he raised an eyebrow and asked confidently. Before I could respond he grabbed my hand and pulled me towards the canteen. It felt like he had a possessive demeanor but it was probably just my mind running wild.

My face was turning red as he walked me towards the canteen. The stares of others were glaring into my soul, especially the girls. It was as if it was against the social law that I had somebody to accompany me. The thought made me sad and angry at the same time.

Jason didn't eat during lunch. He was sipping on a cup of orange juice as he watched me eat my spaghetti.

"So, do you like the color red?" it was actually one of my favorite colors, I found him very intuitive. "That tomato sauce looks red," I wanted to face palm right there and then. I wasn't sure whether it was because of the idiotic comment or because I believed him to be intuitive.

"Looks like blood noodles," honestly, I should have been utterly irked out by his observation but I found it very funny. It led me to burst right into laughter. I was laughing hysterically; it was as if it was impossible to stop. Jason simply sat there and smiled, though I thought that I must have looked absolutely mad and he should've been running away completely weird-ed out by then.

When I contained myself, I noticed that everyone in the canteen was staring at me, including Jason- just that he was the only one still grinning. "I haven't laughed like that in years," I said matter-of-factly. "You just keep making one random comment after another, it's hilarious."

"You should, you're cute when you laugh," he inched closer a bit, completely unfazed by my comment about him. Jason must have had his head wired up incorrectly, I was pretty sure most of my schoolmates saw me as a mad witch with a diabolical plan to burn down the world as I laughed. Still, I found myself extremely flattered by his comment and tensed up a bit, trying not to show how easily pleased I was.

"Don't tense up, it's true," I was shocked by his perceptiveness, though I was getting quite used to being shocked by him.

"Thank you," I mumbled as I looked down and played with my spaghetti. Jason was starting to make me feel queasy.

He was following me around school the rest of the day. Coincidentally, we had to same class for every single subject. I started to get very suspicious about all the coincidences I have with Jason, maybe they weren't so coincidental after all. At first, I found his presence a bit unsettling; it was something that I was completely unused to. I was supposed to be the loner that went everywhere well, alone. However, towards the end of the day, I found his presence commonplace, as if it were to be expected.

After school, I walked over to my mother's car at the parking lot. He followed me, as if it were natural. "See you tomorrow Jane," he said as he smiled into my eyes, I found myself completely mesmerized by them again. They were such a beautiful color. Suddenly, he bent down and planted a kiss upon my cheek. Onlookers completely stopped in their tracks, just to stare and gossip. I was absolutely terrified. Not for me, but for him, that very action would have probably sealed his fate to be shunned by the rest of the school.

"Jason, you shouldn't do that!" I quickly pushed him away. His eyebrows furrowed; Jason seemed hurt and dejected, "the rest of the school will misjudge you, they'll think that you're abnormal, like me."

Immediately his look softened. "You're completely normal Jane, you're perfect," undoubtedly his comment made my heart flutter again. Then it struck to me that Jason might not be completely in the know; maybe he thought that all the rumors he heard were completely false.

"Jason, you don't know, I'm – different," I was slightly hesitant about the word, "you don't really know me yet, I'm –"

"Are you getting in honey?" my mother asked as her head peeked through her car window. I had almost forgotten about her, being too engrossed in the conversation with Jason.

"I'll explain it to you tomorrow Jason, see you," I gave him a flimsy wave as I stepped into the car. We exchanged our goodbyes and my mother drove off.

I didn't want to tell him about all my incidents of the past. They might scare him off, making me lose my only, and most recent friend. But I had to; it was his moral right to know and my moral obligation to do so. Furthermore, his actions and words made my heart race incessantly, if I was going to have it broken, I might as well let it as soon as possible to minimize the damage. But I couldn't like Jason, he seemed too good for me, and he had a much brighter future, at least in the friend department. It was obvious since all the girls were ogling him. I just met him today!

"Finally! A friend! Plus, he's cute!" My mother squirmed excitedly. She shook me out of it as my mind was racing.

I looked at her and gave a weak smile. "Yeah, new student," the relationship probably wouldn't last past tomorrow morning, when I tell Jason about all the happenings. I gave a deep sigh and stared out of the window as my mother ranted on about how "fabulous" this turn of events was for me.

That night, I kept feeling an eerie atmosphere around the house, as if somebody was tracking me. Pushing it to the back of my mind, I allowed myself to drift off to sleep….

"Evelyn," there was a cold touch to my face and a soft whisper in a deep, dark voice. My eyes shot open at the sudden touch but there was nothing there.

"Odd," mumbling, I shut my eyes once more.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

** Unpleasant Surprises**

"I'm not what you think I am," I stated firmly, using all my strength to stare into Jason's eyes, "They call me a monster, because I really am one." He smirked at my remark and shook his head, making me frown. He wasn't taking me seriously. "Things happened, Jason, horrible things, and I caused them."

"What happened?" He sounded completely calm, curious actually. There was not a hint of fear or hesitancy.

I steeled myself before blurting out everything. "I sent two boys to the hospital before, Ash and Henry, they were fighting, right there, and all of a sudden I felt something tense in my mind. It was a force; it hit them and they were sent flying against that wall. Another time I caused my teacher to crumble in pain during literature. She wanted me to write ten pages of sorry phrases just because I didn't pay attention. It made me so mad; I focused on her forehead and all of a sudden she was shrieking in agony. I almost killed someone; a girl was mocking a new skirt that my grandmother made for me, somehow I managed to light her hair up on fire and she suffered second degree burns and permanent scars on her neck. More happened, but there's just too much to tell." I let out every detail in one breath, quickly going through each scenario in order to push myself on. A pang of guilt hit me with the recall of each incident.

Jason stared hard into my eyes. He didn't waver; he seemed completely unafraid.

"The whole school has a reason for calling me 'monster' Jason," I paused for a while as I tried to catch my breath. "I've done too much to hurt others."

He still remained silent.

After what seemed like an eternity, he finally gave me a reply, "its fine." He said while grinning widely, sending doubts to me. Was he mentally insane?

"You don't seem to get me! All those things are true, I'm connected—"he lifted a finger to my mouth to hush me.

"I believe you, but it's not a big deal at all, you're just coming of age," Jason held my hands and started tracing around my fingers. Strangely, my confession to him seemed to make him look happier than before. His reaction made me thoroughly confused.

"Maybe you're a psychic; it's a good thing isn't it? Your powers are a gift, it doesn't make you a monster, it makes you better than everyone else," he smirked. His point of view was so … different. Where did Jason come from? He definitely wasn't your average Joe.

"Why do you think so different?" I blurted.

"Because, I'm different, like you," He put his shoulder around me and squeezed me towards his side. I fit perfectly next to him. It was eerie and comforting at the same time; a weird feeling. People were starting to stare at us but I didn't want to move. I simply looked back at them confidently, asserting my right to have someone to comfort me. I couldn't be sure, but Jason's encouragement had managed to increase my self-worth ever so slightly. Staying with him made me feel special and needed, an emotion that was very unusual. Was he a very good friend? Or was I falling in love with him? I seriously wished that it wasn't the latter. Rejection still seemed eminent for some reason and love just hurt.

"Jason, being my friend isn't really a wise choice," I timidly said, I had to warn him about the dangers of being with me. "Everybody else will be scared of you too, the rest of the school thinks I'm some sort of crazy witch."

"Hmmm," He seemed to be pondering a bit which made me quiver, but he rejected it with a "don't care" almost immediately. "They're much more boring than you are anyway, what's life without some danger anyway?" There was too much flattery when I was with him, it made my heart want to explode. I blushed and looked away.

"I have to go," Jason suddenly released me from his embrace and stood up. He voice was hard and serious; perhaps there was something urgent at hand. I thought I heard a low growl from him but I quickly shook it from my head.

"Jason?" as quickly as I uttered his name, Jason fled towards the exit, leaving me sitting on the bench completely alone. His actions evoked a couple of giggles from observers, making me to be very embarrassed. He might have experienced a sudden realization about the implications of what I told him, or that he noticed that I was a true monster. The doubts and worries started piling up in my chest, making me feel a bit nauseous.

The day went on as usual, the same way it went before Jason arrived. I sat in isolated corners of all my classes and everybody left me alone. I ate by myself; it was the same 'blood noodles'. I looked at them as quirked a smile, although it was more of a melancholic recount than a cheerful one. I had grown accustomed to the loneliness, but now it irked me. Normal wasn't normal anymore. The whole day I allowed myself to be convinced that Jason was freaked out by me and decided to leave. It tightened my chest. He made me get used to his presence, before deserting me like I was trash. My mind was filled with a mixture of anger, pain and grief.

There were more sneers at me at school today. The students had already heard about my abandonment and were creating numerous rumors about it. I wanted to get close to a few of them; perhaps the ones that did not stand out much and were not quick to judge. Jason wasn't the only person that would befriend me right? Maybe, I was a freak after all. As I approached some peers, they would cower in fear and excuse themselves. Onlookers snickered at me and when I glared at a few of them, they too sneaked away. My insecurities piled up. Many times I would bite my lips to keep a few angry tears in check; sometimes, I even had to clench my fist tightly, just to prevent myself from throwing a dangerous fireball at the locker.

It started to become blatantly clear. The only friend that I could have was Jason, because he was the only person willing to be my friend. And the very thing I feared – his abandonment of me- happened minutes after he learnt the truth about me, leaving me to be society's outcast as my only companion was stripped away.

Everywhere I went felt slightly chillier that day. It was difficult walking around with a heavy heart; the weight of my thoughts seemed to drag me down. I only returned home at six, when the sun had mostly set; I hated that there was an extra talk after school; it simply dragged my day on.

When I got home, I allowed myself to crash onto the bed. My thoughts drifted as I lay on my back, my eyes fixated on the white ceiling fan. It was spinning, like my thoughts were. They drifted to when I was fourteen, before the first accident, before everyone started calling me a freak. I had best friends like every other girl did, we explored all those things that girls loved; fashion, gossip, sports, boys. Yet, the all abandoned me so easily, after I created that force field. There were even a few boys going after me, and they weren't bad looking either. How did everything turn out like this? Now I had to put all my hopes on a foreign student that I barely knew about. I didn't notice it at first, but tears started to flow as I recalled the good times. Soon they developed into loud sobs and sniffs.

As I wallowed in my self pity I heard the sound of a ringing bell. I cleaned up my face as I moved towards the door. My eyes were puffy, my nose was red and worst of all, my hair was soaked with tears and was tangling all over the place. Needless to say, I was a walking disaster. Whoever was at the door better not be someone I knew.

"Jane?" I heard a familiar voice shout as I dragged myself down the stairs. He knocked on the door and shouted again, "It's Jason!" Immediately I panicked. "Are you there? We need to talk" I stopped in my tracks as I thought about what to do. The rapping on the door became increasingly louder and faster. I was at a loss; I didn't want him to see me like this.

"Coming!" I rushed towards the door and let it peek open, "yes?" maybe he could just tell me what he wanted to say and leave afterwards.

"Jane, you're being ridiculous, just come out." I could hear the laughter in his voice. Maybe he wasn't so scared by me like I imagined.

"No, I look terrible."

"I can't talk to you without looking you in the eye, it's too weird, just come out." He pushed my door wide open, going against my wishes to hide from him. I was staring straight into his face; a disaster staring straight into his face.

"Well somebody looks pretty today," Jason flashed a grin as he leaned towards me; I shifted away from him, feeling uneasy about his closeness when I was looking like a wreck.

"I look pretty today, don't I?" he laughed out his joke as he brushed his fingers through his hair, I had to grin as well, he was acting comical as usual. "Just kidding, you're the pretty one."

"Thank you," I picked up my courage and turned towards him. Though, I was very reluctant to show him how horrible I looked then. Jason seemed completely fine about it, the flattery flooded towards me as usual. I was growing to like it a lot.

"Sorry, something came up, missed me?" I nodded slowly. He held out his hand which I slowly took a hold off. Jason didn't look disgusted by me; he acted the same way he always did. Perhaps I was worrying for nothing.

I didn't have time to say no, or push away. In one swift motion Jason pulled me towards him and embraced me tightly. I was stunned to say the least. Hesitantly, I wrapped my arms around him too; uncertain about whether that was the right thing to do.

"I just came here to check up on you, I thought that you might've taken my leaving too harshly," he mumbled as he twirled his fingers in my hair.

"You have no idea," I sighed, I felt so relieved now that he was back. He chuckled and tightened his embrace.

"How did you know where I lived?" I perked my head up and looked directly into his eyes.

"Hmmm, that's a good question," he seemed quite hesitant to tell me; maybe he was doing something wrong, like stalking me? "I saw you get out of the car on the day I moved here, I was just passing by." I quirked a brow; was I that memorable? His answers seemed slightly suspicious, but I let it go to prevent spoiling the moment. After all, my outfits weren't exactly hard to forget.

"It's a bit cold, wanna warm up?" he took a few steps away from me and bowed, leaving me to wonder what he was doing. The confused expression on my face was evident.

"May I have this dance?" my face lit up at once. We were going to dance on the porch. It reminded me of a silly Cinderella dream come true, like a childhood fantasy that few girls ever got to fulfill. I nodded my head, allowing him to pull me to his side to dance.

His feet kept getting trampled on by mine. I was such a clumsy dancer and it almost left me feeling very ashamed of myself. But Jason kept laughing it off every time his toe was stepped on, and reassuring me that many people start off dancing clumsily. He was singing a soft tune, humming slowly as we swayed together. It sounded so melodic and soothing. I was sure that we looked pretty ridiculous; a couple of teenagers laughing and dancing on the porch as if we were slightly drunk. Though appearances did not matter much at that moment, it just felt so surreal and warmed me up. Jason said that I was perfect, but he was the perfect one. The whole time I was gazing into his beautiful eyes, enraptured by their uniqueness.

"Jason, you shouldn't leave like that ever again, it scared me so much," I whispered, shuddering at today's earlier experience.

"I know and I'm sorry, I won't do it again," he kissed my forehead, "I promise."

The day ended as the exact opposite of what it was, wonderful. My sorrow morphed into bliss. By the end of the night I was pretty sure that Jason was all I ever needed. He parted me with a short kiss on my lips which left me sighing with happiness.

When he left, I ran up into my room and shrieked with joy. My life had never been better. "Jason, Jason Jason!" I jumped onto my bed and laughed into my pillow. For the first time, it felt like I had a normal teenage crush. Perhaps falling in love wasn't so bad, it definitely didn't feel bad. I barely knew Jason, but the last two days had allowed me to feel like a completely different person, like I belonged. My confusion about my thoughts for him started to dissipate for a while; maybe dating was a good option.

The feelings for my new love interest overwhelmed me so greatly that I was completely unprepared for what was to happen.

Without warning, the window flailed open violently; I gasped with fear. I surveyed my room for why it did but there was not a clue. It was similar to a scene ripped straight out from a horror movie and it scared me to my wit's end. What was I to do? I tried to ready myself for whatever was to happen, though it seemed impossible.

"We finally meet dear Evelyn," it was the same dark voice that I heard from my dream last night. I turned around to see a young man that had the same black hair as me. His eyes were a glowing bright light blue and his face was sharp and slightly chiseled. He looked similar to Jason, just as gorgeous, but at the same time very different. His muscles looked a bit more toned, and there was a sinister aura that surrounded him. I was stunned, and froze as I stared at him. I was unaware of whether I was fearful or curious.

"I think that it's just about time we discussed our marriage," the man just stood there smiling and speaking matter-of-factly, as if what he just said was not completely outrageous.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

** Loss of Kin**

**_Jason_**

Today wasn't a very good day. In fact, it sucked more than anything else. The thing with Jane was settled—thank god—but Adan just had to make it worse again. Two of my advisors were killed—my favorites too. He left the dead bodies as a warning, trying to deter me from going any closer to Jane. I knew that there was going to be conflict the moment I tried to talk to her. But I never thought Adan to be so underhanded.

He should have known that I wouldn't back down. No way in hell was I going to let her go. She meant too much, and in more ways than one.

I considered burning down the whole school. They made Jane cry. I hated it when women cried, but it was worse when she did. Plus, it was a good way to let off some steam.

The thought of my date with Jane calmed me. She was so… sweet, cute and spunky. Better than anything that I could have asked for. She thought that she was a monster, a creature of darkness. But she was the complete opposite.

The true monster was me. My fangs lengthened as I imagined my next meal. Rich, flowing, red and sweet blood. I was dying for some. Smelling Jane the whole day didn't help much either. I could see it: her veins pumping with the liquid that was like gold to us demons. I needed to feed, or my self-control would go out the window and never come back.

A kill. It was time to search for one. The adrenaline that it gave me always made me feel better. My muscles tightened in anticipation of the hunt. It was the best part of being a demon; the cries of the innocent victims would sound sickening to humans, but I embraced it. I had an eternity to accept my being, so I did, with great pride that I was one of the most superior beings on earth.

I spotted a young woman passing by the local convenience store. She looked like she could have been a student at the local university – a perfect target. I followed close behind her, waiting for her to go to somewhere inconspicuous. She was heading towards a nearby park.

I trailed behind her, blending in with the shadows. I could've just taken what I wanted and left, compelling passersby to forget. But there was no fun in that. Playing predator was more thrilling.

As soon as she reached a reasonably dark corner I muted her with my hands before she could scream and pulled her behind a tall oak tree that had a broad bark.

I gave her my most charming smile. "Well hello there." I bent down and blew into her ear, hoping to send shivers down her spine.

Her eyes widened. Then, she flashed back a sultry smile. "Hello," she said flirtatiously.

Not good. I was supposed to scare her not please her. Wouldn't normal girls feel scared if a mysterious man pulled them into a corner? This woman seemed out of her mind. But I did look very enthralling to these weak humans. This wasn't the first time this happened.

Time to change my plan of action. "I'm afraid you read my greeting wrongly." Right then, I morphed into my true form. My canines lengthened. The whites of my eyes turned into a bloody red while my pupils darkened. Blood pumped harder through the veins that were already starting to show through my skin.

Invigorating. Amazing. Power felt better when it was released. Suppressing it all the time and looking human was boring, and rather annoying as well.

Unfortunately, I had to reel it back in before the whole park disintegrated. I let out a deep sigh of disappointment, allowing my body to change back to look more human, and sadly, less powerful.

I glanced back at the college student. Her eyes looked like they were about to bulge out, and her mouth was hanging open. She needed to scream, but couldn't. "W-what do you want?" Her voice was a small squeak. She pressed her body harder against the bark of the tree. Finally, she was starting to play the part of a prey.

I chuckled. "Blood. And some of your soul." I opened my mouth and flashed my canines once more, just to scare her again.

Her face was as pale as a sheet of paper. I noticed her body shifted away slightly. She was going to run, or try at least. Big mistake.

I pressed myself against her, locking her against the tree so that she wouldn't escape. "Don't. Even. Think about it."

Before she could react, I thrust my head to her neck and let my teeth pierce into it. The sweet liquid seeped into my mouth and I fed. The smell of Jane's blood drove me crazy. This woman's Lifeforce was nothing like Jane's but it should suffice for now. I was intending to drain and kill her.

I drowned myself in my painfully delicious meal. Enjoying the warmth gushing into my mouth. The girl tried to push me away. Unsuccessfully of course. I was barely sated. More. I wanted more…

My face jolted away from her neck.

I felt a sudden release of power. It was weak but nonetheless noticeable. What caught my attention more was that it was coming in the direction of Jane's house. Something had happened to her, bad enough to trigger her fight response. I needed to be there by her side.

My victim was slackened against the tree. She was weak, but still conscious, the red substance smeared around a grotesque wound at the nape of her neck—a consequence of me not bothering to feed cleanly.

I released a frustrated growl and looked into the eyes of my prey. " You're free to go." She still stared at me with fear. "Forget everything that just happened here, you came here for a stroll. Cover your gash with a bandage."

She nodded slowly, all signs of fear gone. "Yes I will," she said with a trance-like voice. Her eyelids drooped downwards and she let her body collapse onto the grassy floor—a result of blood loss.

The deed was done. I needed to go to Jane.

I sprinted toward her house. It was on the other side of town but it didn't take me long, not with my supernatural running speed. Her town was rather small. I arrived within less than a few minutes. It was quiet. The lights were off. Everybody should've been sleeping. Then why did she release that energy?

I propelled myself to her bedroom window to check out what happened.

The room was in a mess. There was a large burn mark on the wall—I assumed that it was caused by the energy that Jane released earlier. Books and shattered glass were scattered all over the floor and there was a small pool of blood next to the bed.

What sickened me to the core was the view of my arch enemy being comfortably crouched against her bed while indulging in what was mine—Jane.

Her face looked drained. It was white; her once-cherry lips barely had any blood left in them. Her breath was barely audible and erratic. She looked like a lifeless corpse though I could still hear the faint beating of her heart that could stop any moment now. I felt my chest and muscles tighten.

He was harming her, killing her slowly. All this while I was trying not to hurt her, treating her like a delicate flower. And there was Adan, taking her away just like that.

Yet, despite the heart-wrenching image, I felt a strong pull towards the puddle of blood. I wanted to bend down to just drink it up. I thought I had more self control than that; I spent thousands of years learning to restrain myself from fulfilling my cravings. Still, the smell of the blood was intoxicating, and made my throat burn.

I steered my thoughts towards Adan, I needed to focus on the situation at hand. As I lingered, he was slowly stealing her life force away. Pretty soon, her blood would be drained to the point where he was able to tap on her soul as well, completely changing that endearing personality of hers forever.

I shifted my view towards him and immediately anger surged through me.

"Adan you bastard!" I plunged towards him in a fury and grabbed him by his throat, lifting him off the ground.

"What did you do to her?" I asked venomously, spitting the words in his face. I wanted to tear him from limb to limb. He was harming too many persons that I treasured that day. He dared plunge his vile fangs into Jane's neck.

Adan was completely ignoring me. His eyes were fixated on the still figure that was lying next to the bed, the blood pooling around her neck.

"We have to help her." He sounded frantic. What was he talking about? Wasn't he the one that caused this mess? "I don't know what happened."

"Don't fuck around with me." I needed to punish him. Violently, I swung my fist towards the bridge of his nose, sending his face bending sideways.

He moved his face toward me slowly, as if my punch didn't even hurt at all. "She needs help. Now." In one swift motion he pushed me towards the cabinet, breaking it. "Stop being such an idiot."

That motion push hurt more than it should have. I had sparred with Adan multiple times but never once was he this strong. I shouldn't have even stumbled a few steps backward. Was it the effect of Jane's blood? Or was it because I was weak from not feeding enough?

As I got up, Adan lifted Jane in his arms and was ready to carry her off into the night. I let out a deep and loud growl, trying to send Adan a warning but he simply turned away.

"Where do you think you're taking her?" I sped towards him and elbowed him on his neck, but all I could do was make him take a step back. He was unusually strong that day which made me even angrier. He was about to jump out of the window when I pulled him back by his shoulders.

"You're not getting away that easily," I growled as I punched his ribs continuously. It triggered a hiss from him.

He snorted, mocking me. "Idiot." He moved his back against me, flattening me against the cabinet, breaking it and splintering its wood. The broken wood pierced against my arms, causing me to shout in pain and pant heavily. I pulled them out as quickly as I could, making me wince. I tensed my muscles and readied myself to sprint to him.

But I wasn't fast enough. Adan had escaped.

I made my way towards the window, ready to chase after him. His presence was still strong, I was sure that I could catch up to him.

However, an annoying obstacle appeared in front of me – Hollie.

Hollie was my spawn. She was strong—obviously—since she was the direct descendant of me. I made her out of my own essence, after Adan created his own spawn. I thought that it had been a good military tactic. However, the plan failed. Hollie joined Adan's gang, strengthening his army. It was probably because we never got along with each other well. Ironic.

She walked toward me. "Wow. This is quite the mess." She looked around casually, looking bored. "Adan asked me to stop you."

"Well, you can't. I'm sorry but I have to go." I regarded her with contempt. Her nonchalant attitude got on my nerves. "I don't have time to deal with you."

I really wanted to kill her right there and then. I wanted to but could not. She was still close to many of my men. Her death at my hands would spread contempt against me in my coven. As if that wasn't bad enough, her thousand associates would start coming at me for revenge, igniting a large explosion of trouble.

I started towards the window but Hollie blocked my path. "Move," I ordered before pushing her away roughly. She swiftly got up.

A barrier blocked the window.

"You're not leaving," Hollie said. She summoned the barrier. Barriers were her talent and they were almost as strong as mine – how convenient _for her_. Crushing her throat seemed very tempting at the moment.

I snarled at her. Adan's aura was getting weaker by the seconds.

"Don't mess with me Hollie, release it now."

She laughed. "Make me."

I rushed at her and pinned her to the ground, landing her straight into the pool of blood. "Remove it!" I cursed at how much the blood intoxicated me.

It was hard to ignore Jane's blood.

Hollie took advantage of my distraction and flipped me over. I felt the blood smear across my back. It was right behind me. I could just… drink it.

It made my mind whirl; its aroma became the only thing I could think about. The strong smell of Jane's blood pulled against me and heightened my thirst. I couldn't believe what I was about to do.

I turned around. And drank.

The moment it hit my taste buds, there was an incredible surge of power that pulsed through my body. Every cell and muscle fiber was energized. The strength was something easy to get lost in. Jane's blood was like a magic elixir. I couldn't get enough.

"I didn't know that you were willing to eat like that, you really are a dog aren't you?" It was then did I realize my savage and lowly behavior. I was bent over on the pool of blood, swallowing whatever I could. My face was completely stained with blood, like a cannibalistic barbarian.

"Shut up." I sped towards her and broke her neck in one swift motion, rendering her unconscious.

I flexed my muscles, clenched, and then unclenched my fists. I've never felt stronger than this.

But my new-found strength was useless. Adan's presence had already faded. He was already too far away. I swore under my breath leapt out of the room.

Jane. If Adan did anything to harm her even more... I didn't want to think about it.

I turned my attention to Hollie; she had spoiled my plans far too much today. The bitch deserved to be punished.

I tore pieces of wood from the broken cupboard and piled them next to her body. I was determined to make her waking as unpleasant as possible, piercing splintered into different parts of her body: her legs, her chest, her stomach and even one in each eye. Getting out those pieces of wood was going to be torture. It made me feel better, though barely.

When I was about to leave, I heard a small sniffle in a corner.

The door was slightly open. Looking out, I saw Mrs. Gessner cowering behind the door with fear, trying to keep quiet. She must have entered the room to check what was all the commotion about and saw the fights.

Before she had a chance to run, I looked into her eyes and commanded, "You didn't see anything. Jane had gone on a school trip. There is something wrong with her door lock, it cannot be opened."

She bowed her head. "Yes." She stood up and walked towards her own room to sleep.

I sighed, tonight had been a long night. Jane went missing and was now in the arms of Adan.

I put a barrier on her door to make sure that nobody stumbled upon the mess. If she were to come back, I didn't want her to get into trouble having to explain to the police and her parents.

I took off into the dark and cold night. I had to begin searching. Jane belonged next to me. There was an empty hole in my chest that I needed her to fill.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

** Shocking Histories**

My surroundings looked different when I woke up. I was in a small albeit spacious room. It was furnished simply. Besides the bed, there was only a small couch in a corner and a table at the bedside. The room was dull; it had a brownish tint with maroon curtains. There were no decorations whatsoever, not even a mirror.

What stood out was the plethora of flowers spread all over the bed. From roses to daisies, their silky petals surrounded me. The evening light shined lightly upon then, providing them a radiance that made them even more breathtaking. I would have been touched and awed by this display if not for my worry. As pretty as they were, they still could not distract me from my trouble.

I was at an alien place, and all that I remembered before my abduction was my fight, if you could call it that, with a strange man at my house.

_"__Wife? Who are you and what do you want?__"__ I said incredulously._

_"__I__'__m Adan, a demon, and I want you to be my future wife,__"__ the man, Adan, perched himself against a wall. I looked at him warily, he was a demon? I didn__'__t want to believe him but his entrance proved it. My palms started becoming clammy, and my breathing quickened. I looked around trying to find a way out, but he didn__'__t have any openings._

_ He snapped his fingers; with each snap a spark of electricity lighted. He was looking slightly bored waiting for my response._

_When I failed to say anything he started walking towards me. __"__So what__'__s it going to be? Yes or no? It__'__s not like you have a choice,__"__ with each step my eyes grew wider. I needed to get away. Run. But how?_

_"__Get away from me,__"__ I yelled as I tried to distant myself from him. The bed head was as far as I could go. He didn__'__t care about what I was saying; Adan just kept advancing towards me slowly. Soon I was within his reach, and he immediately took advantage of that. He reached out his hands to touch my cheek._

_I yelped as if I were in pain, the fear was too overpowering. A surge of energy filled my body and I released a large burst of it, pushing him towards the opposite wall. _

_Adan looked stunned from the hit. He didn__'__t look hurt. He was just stunned, that energy burst was something that he didn't expect. I used the pause to try and escape, heading straight for the door. I was stumbling all over the place. The panic prevented me from keeping a clear head; all I could think was to run as quickly as possible._

_"__Leaving so soon?__"__ Adan appeared in front of me out of thin air. The suddenness of his movements made me tumble backwards, landing on the floor. My arm grazed the edge of cupboard, causing a large bleeding wound._

_Adan reacted to it at once. __"__Why__'__d you have to get yourself hurt?__"__ He rushed towards my side and furrowed his eyebrows as he looked at my wound as he lifted up my arm; he seemed to be very concerned._

_I pushed against him; I didn__'__t want him touching me. But he was unmovable; I couldn__'__t seem to make him move an inch. __"__Don__'__t worry, it's to close the wound,__"__ he bent down and lapped at the cut, sending shivers down my back. It seemed so disgusting and yet it felt__…__ sickeningly pleasurable. I continued trying to push him away at first but soon I decided to stop, it was futile, and his actions were starting to make me feel weak._

_"__Stop Adan,__"__ I gasped, he did. Adan lifted his head and looked at me. His eyes were diluted, and his gaze looked distracted._

_He was staring at the nape of my neck._

_Immediately I knew what he was thinking. His eyes were diluted with hunger and he was taciturn; his expression too serious._

_"__No, please don__'__t - __"__Before I could finish his canines pierced my neck. __"__Adan, stop it,__"__ It didn__'__t hurt, it still felt good, but I could feel my energy draining away. My eyes started fluttering; the tiredness was washing over me, consciousness slipping away._

_"__Stop, please,__"__ my pleas were answered by his canines delving deeper into my neck, bringing about a gruesome sound. Adan let out a few demonic growls, making my stomach churn. I was sure that I was going to die; every last drop of blood would be drained out of me that night. I started crying. I hardly did but this was too frightening. My thoughts started becoming filled with Jason. I had finally found something to look forward to everyday and now I had to leave him so quickly. There was a sharp pang at my chest._

_"__Jason,__"__ I whispered, hoping that at this moment he would come. It was foolish but I found myself unknowingly counting on him to rescue me. The moment I said his name Adan let out a ferocious growl and bit harder into my neck, causing me to cringe._

My recount was interrupted by a sharp knock on the door. I tensed myself up, ready for a fight. I already knew who my abductor was, and I didn't want to spend another moment in the same room as him.

The door creaked open at an agonizingly slow rate; I took a big gulp as I anticipated his entering. My eyes quickly scanned the room for some sort of weapon, but it was too sparse. The small gleam of light coming through the curtains caught my attention. Adan was most likely a vampire, considering that he was sucking the life out of me the other night. The sun would deter him from coming for me.

I rushed towards the curtains and spread them wide open, releasing a comforting glow throughout the room. The sunlight would keep me safe, so I positioned myself beside the window, where it was the strongest. Adan would never be able to reach me like this.

"I sensed that you were awake," I heard his voice before he stepped into the room, "have you recovered?" Adam came in completely undaunted. I assumed that the sunlight would make him cringe or squint slightly, but he acted with normalcy. My worry increased, was he not a vampire? If that were the case I would have no defense mechanism.

He looked at me with a hint of curiosity, "what are you doing?" There was a short pause before he seemed to realize something. "You think that's going to stop me?"

"Stay away," I stood my ground and tried to look intimidating, but Adan acted like he was going to laugh. "Stay away!" my voice quivered and my eyes started to tear.

He started walking towards me slowly. "Shhh… Calm down I'm not going to hurt you," he tried to persuade me as if I were a baby. The situation brought about a feeling of déjà vu. The same thing happened before, it ended terribly. My breathing quickened as he approached. His body started entering the sunlight, with no ill effects.

I wanted to scream, but before I could Adan silenced me with his palm. His form was pressed up against mine; uncomfortably constraining. "Mllempp me dggo," I mumbled into his hand, all at once flailing my arms around like a wild animal, hitting against his rock-like chest. He was unmoving, planted at his position like a statue. My fists were starting to hurt from pounding against him. It became apparent that my efforts were futile.

"Will you please calm down woman? You're just hurting yourself, stop being so stubborn," I glanced up at him trying to look as stern as possible, though I was quite sure that I looked more terrified than anything else. He held still as he waited for me to quiet down, making snarky remarks all the while. Soon enough, exhaustion made me give up.

"Women, so hard to handle," he sighed and rubbed his forehead, implying that I was a bother. I was pretty sure I was one; I needed to make his life hard so that he would free me. "Here's the deal, be a little cooperative, don't try to run – you can't anyway since I placed strong barriers around the room to lock you in, and I'll tell you everything that you need to know. Well, most of it."

"How do I know that," I paused for a moment; I knew that it would be risky to challenge him, but I needed to take a chance, how else was I to protect myself? "that you're not lying?" I took a deep breath and glared at him. All he did was smirk.

"To believe or not to believe, I don't really give a damn what you think. All I know is that I have answers and you need them," he chuckled; his tone was mocking, which enraged me slightly, but I didn't want to be rash and hit him. Who knows how he would retaliate.

"Okay then," I gulped, "let's start with something simple. Where am I?"

"Macau," he said as he took a seat on the couch and brushed his shoulder, acting nonchalantly.

"Macau?" I bit my lip and leaned closer against the window. The sun was almost completely down, taking its comforting warmth along with it. I was so far away from home, how was I to get back even if he did set me free? Perhaps it was better to play nice, since annoying him would leave me out in the streets with no money or food.

"How long was I out for?"

"Two days, I think I might've preferred you unconscious, you looked so much sweeter, and obedient," he started doing that electric finger snap thing again. It was a strange habit of his. My parents must have been worried for me by then; I had never been out overnight before. My chest tightened as I looked at my chances, it was unlikely that I would ever return home. Adan's attitude really irked me, he had no concern for my situation; his heartlessness really put me off.

"When can I get home?" I tried asking. I really hoped that he'd say 'soon', but that was just wishful thinking.

"You're already home," he laughed. My eyes widened. Adan was going to keep me here forever? I was raging; heat starting pooling around my arms—a fireball was coming. "Just kidding," My muscles relaxed and the heat dissipated. I sighed with relief but also with annoyance. Adan's attitude was getting on my nerves.

"This dreary place? Nah, I'll bring you to someplace nicer after this, it sucks here, that place will be your home," Adan was teasing me; he already knew what I meant, "you should be happy."

"I mean, my real home; the place where I lived before I came here," I was thoroughly frustrated with trying to get my point across.

"Ah, yes, that; it depends on how well you behave," I started making clicking noises with my tongue. He was irritating me and I was trying to de-stress myself.

"Behave?"

"Marry me, be my pretty little bride," he flashed me a grin, "listen to everything I say."

"That's sick," I thought I saw his mouth twitch. Were his feelings actually hurt? "Why would you even want me to be your wife?"

Adan tilted his head, pondering about something, then he shook his head and said, "Let's just say it's about this stupid prophecy some dumb witch made a few centuries ago."

"You'd base your wife off some prophecy that has no grounds?"

"Yeah; the witch never made a mistake with her sights," he shrugged.

"What is it anyway?"

"I'll keep that for later," he continued smiling at me. The smiles he flashed looked sinister and filled me with unease. I was so curious about what he meant by 'prophecy', but taking too many chances would be on the verge of being idiotic.

"So," I decided to take the plunge and just ask the question. I wasn't sure about whether I wanted to know it, but curiosity was eating away at me, "what are you?"

Adan propped his chin up with his hand and sighed. "You thought that I was a vampire didn't you?" I nodded, which made him shake his head with disappointment. "I'm a true-blood demon, the oldest monster you'd ever find on this planet."

"True-blood? What are you exactly?" I moved towards the bed and cuddled underneath the sheets. The sun was already down, removing its protecting warmth from the spot next to the window. That position just made me feel vulnerable.

"A few thousand years old, I've kind of lost count," his eyes followed intently on my movements which made me feel queasy. "You can call me the 'father of all monsters'; basically I'm one of the first demons that ever came into existence. Every single demonic creature has its roots from us; vampires, werewolves, witches, fairies, succubae, hobgoblins, everything."

I took a deep breath and tried to understand the information that he just told me. He had basically just said that all these creatures were not myths created of the human mind. They were real walking entities. Worst of all, Adan was like the 'leader' of them all; the most powerful, and I was in the same room as him. I didn't want to be close to him anymore, all I wanted to do was to go home. Being with him was too dangerous, and because of his monstrous nature, he probably had something sinister planned for my fate, or some kind of ulterior motive.

"How were you created?" I had to keep the questions coming; he might slip and give away his weakness.

"There was an ancient civilization around Cuba long ago. They probably heard of a ritual somewhere to cast away evil crimes and wants. At midnight, on a full moon, they carried it out around a large fire, chanting away. They messed it up, instead of chasing away evil, the evil from their hearts gathered and formed two demons - I was one of them. I'm not really sure about the ritual and how they got it, we ate all the civilians up too quickly before we could find out," Adan smiled as he uttered his last sentence, which sickened me to the core. With every detail he told me, I became more fearful.

"That was those of our greatest massacres, with everybody I drained, their blood and souls added to my strength. Well, the more people we kill the stronger we get, their souls add on to our demonic powers. We wiped out a few other civilizations. I think that we even visited the Atlantic before." Adan winked at me; I wanted to spit at him and call him vile. "It's quite sad that modern technology came about, it's so hard to kill people these days, everything is getting tracked."

"And vampires and werewolves?"

"Just a few experiments of ours, we wanted to see how some people would react if we gave them a bit of our essences or blood. Werewolves are reborn every full moon, witches have magical powers, vampires drink blood; they all took on a bit of our traits. I think we did the earth a huge favor, adding in a bit of variety, a little kick and color to the world you know?" he laughed.

Adan was the most sickening person I ever met- if you could call him a person. He pretty much told me that he was the biggest serial killer ever, and that he created serial killers to be his minions.

"You're disgusting," I muttered as I pulled the sheets against my chest, "how could you do all this and laugh?"

"It comes with being a demon, pretty fun actually," Adan said as he stood up. He took a few steps away from me before turning back around.

"I have some busy things to settle, sometimes stuffs never get done unless I'm there," he sighed and opened the door, "think about that marriage proposal, I'm quite the charmer you know? See you soon _dearest_ Evelyn."

The name Evelyn kept striking me every so often. I appeared to have heard it plenty of times, "Why do you call me Evelyn? My name is Jane."

Adan opened his mouth trying to say something, and then closed it again. He took a deep breath and shut the door before leaning against the wall next to it.

"It's a long story."

"I have tons of time, not that I have school work to do anymore." I groaned in frustration.

"You dads kind of like, not your dad," he paused to let the information sink in. I stayed still for awhile, uncertain of how to react.

"I'm starting to think that everything you told me was a lie."

Adan rolled his eyes and shrugged, "it's the truth whether you want to believe it now or not, but you have to accept it someday. Your real father was a demon called Carlos; he's quite a nice guy, a good friend of mine actually," he turned to me, "why can't you be as nice as him?"

"Anyway, your mom got seduced by him one night, not that she can remember, and poof! Out came you, well, nine months later. Carlos told me that he wanted to name you Evelyn, too bad your mom got the decision to name you, Jane is so ugh, plain."

I stared at the blanket, unsure of what to think. My jaw clenched then unclenched.

"So I'm a half-demon?" I asked incredulously, "not human?" My hands were pressed against my head, I felt like it was going to explode. All sorts of emotions, anger, grief, regret, fear, were piling up against my chest.

Adan just let everything out like they were trivial; did the guy have any emotions at all? He didn't see the implications of what he said.

"Well yeah, not so much, look on the bright side, you're half human. Yay!" he clapped and mockingly rejoiced at my situation. "You should consider marrying a demon, follow your demonic instincts."

"Adan will you leave me alone, I need to think about this for a while; personal space please."

"Sure, hopefully you'd change your mind about that wedding thing, I'll get a ring prepared right away," he gleamed at me then headed for the door.

The door smashed straight open, revealing an enraged dark-haired red-head that stormed into the room, "that son-of-bitch, I need a war! I'm going to kill him for what he did."

Adan smiled at her arrival. He tilted his head and rested his fingers on his chin, considering something.

"Hey Hollie, nice to have you here," Adan delightedly walked towards the fuming young lady with welcoming arms, "why don't you take Evelyn here out with you."


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

** Sisterhood**

The red-head, Hollie, squinted at me before flashing a wide grin. It was rather odd since she was enraged just seconds ago. She had a hundred-and-eighty degree change in her expression.

"Oh gosh I can't believe she's right here!" Hollie looked like a five year old that just received a long awaited Christmas present. She clapped her hands excitedly and squealed with joy. It made me raise an eyebrow. Everybody here was so weird. "We've waited centuries for this."

"Waited for what?"

"For you," she skipped towards me and sat on the bed. I should have been wary of her, but her bubbly personality made that seem wrong. Her hands reached for mine, "you have no idea just how long we've been waiting for this day; I bet Adan had been longing for it the most."

"Don't add in any false ideas into her head," Adan quickly rebutted, rolling his eyes and crossing his arms, "it's just this something that was going to happen eventually."

"Oh please, she's your mate for goodness sakes," she waved a dismissive hand at him, and then turned her attention back to me. "You'll grow to love him, a pity that you wouldn't want to share after that."

"Wait what? He's my what?" How did my life end up like this in just one day?

"He's your mate, you soul mate! Aren't you excited?" Hollie was the one that was excited, overly excited. I was just shocked, I hated him.

"Who told you that? How'd you know?"

"The prophecy foretold it; Adan and you will be together al—"

"Hollie that's enough, I don't intend to tell her about it just yet," Adan sighed.

"She deserves to know, she's part of it; it's blasphemy if she's in the dark," Hollie sounded like she was begging. I thought that she was standing up for me. Her nature was very endearing. She was probably the enemy but I wanted her to be my close friend. The tension in the room had subsided.

"Well whoever told that prophecy must've been wrong because I really don't like him," I asserted, folding my arms and frowning.

"Keep telling yourself that darling, you'll realize it someday," Adan winked at me, "I'm irresistible." I childishly stuck my tongue out at him; he responded by sticking out his too. I thought that he was supposed to be a few thousand years old. Thousand year olds should act like grownups.

"Isn't she such a charm," Hollie pinched my cheeks then ruffled my hair. I was stunned. I met her just five minutes ago and she's already treating me like her little sister.

"Well whatever," Adan shook his head, "you take care of her Hollie, I'm off to settle some business. The vampires got into another fight with the werewolves." He sighed; then vanished. My eyes widened. I knew that he had special powers; I've seen it in action. Though looking at him doing it each time never failed to amaze me. I had powers like him too, although I had no idea how to control them, and they would probably never be as strong.

"He's always so shy," Hollie sighed. I scrunched up my nose and looked at her with disbelief. Shy? Had she ever heard the man talk? "Are you ready to go?" She pulled to sheets off me in a swift motion, leaving me unguarded. Immediately, she pursed her lips and furrowed her eyebrows. "What are you wearing?"

"Um, clothes?" I said timidly, her expression seemed mad.

"This is completely unacceptable, it's atrocious, you can't go around walking like this," she pointed at my outfit in disgust, hurting my feelings slightly.

"My grandmother made this dress for me; you can't say it's bad," I tried to defend it.

"If it's bad, it's bad, you know it," It really looked quite terrible, but I thought it rude to condemn my gifts. My grandmother did put a lot of effort into sewing them after all. I didn't want to be an ungrateful brat. But Hollie had a point, so I nodded my head in agreement.

"Let's go shopping," she chirped, then brought me to her car. I had expected a large, grand limousine. They were old demons-they ought to have had luxurious possessions. But she led me to a humble small red car. "We prefer to keep a low profile," she said. The car looked new, and it had a new car scent. I figured that they tended to get bored easily. They probably changed everything frequently.

Macau was filled with breathtaking sky-rise buildings. They towered over me, making me feel small and insignificant – which I probably was. But maybe not so much since the most powerful demon wanted to take me as his bride, though with ill intentions and I hated the idea. The lights were sparkling at me, and left me in amazement and awe. I had barely ever stepped out of my small town; the sights were overwhelming. Hollie had most likely noticed my reaction to the buildings. She incessantly kept talking about how this was just the appetizer, and that tonight was going to be the best night of my life.

"You're a demon as well?" I asked curiously, hoping that she responded 'no'.

Sadly, she replied with a "yup, and a true-blood too."

She pulled over at an area with lower buildings. They had an old English architecture. The floor was covered with black and white mosaic tiles which were lined into wavy stripes. Yellow lights lighted up the place, which gave the area a radiant glow. Hollie told me that the place was called 'Senado Square', a famous tourist spot.

There was a huge crowd which we stood out from – they were yellow-skinned while we were white. But the most outstanding features were Hollie's red hair and her glowing lime green eyes. Her attractiveness didn't help either. Many suspicious and questioning stares were shot at us. The 'low profile' which she said she wanted to keep was as good as gone. Maybe she liked the attention; it didn't look like she was trying to keep a disguise. If so, she was quite hypocritical, though in a cute way –I think.

She pulled me over to a shop in one of the English-like buildings, "this is going to be so fun." She ran towards the clothes hung around the store and plucked a ton of them off their hangers, leaving me waiting. The shop looked very posh; it was for elegant rich people, not plain town girls like me. The clothes in her arms kept piling up; it would take ages for me to try on every single one of them. I walked over to a nearby shirt and glanced at the price tag. I thought that I could die right there and then, the prices of the clothes were too expensive.

"I think I picked up too much," she rested one arm on her waist and used the other to scratch her head in wonderment, "but I thought that they'd all look amazing on you."

"Hollie, I don't think that you should buy me all this, I'll owe you too much."

"Nonsense, I love shopping, but my wardrobe is full; you're doing me a favor sweetheart," she grabbed a dress from the stack and shoved it into my hands, "try this one on." I stumbled as she pushed me into the changing room, all the while she was giggling. Hollie really was doing this for her own entertainment; the only person that was having fun was her.

I put the garment on and gazed into the mirror. She was right when she said that it'd look good on me. It was a red tube dress which had a silky textile. The fabric flowed perfectly down to my knees. My pale skin was brightened by its strong tint, and my black hair contrasted with it well, creating a beautiful effect. It could have been coincidence, but Hollie was a genius with fashion.

When I stepped out, the satisfaction was evident on her face. "I knew that you'd look perfect in this," she laughed, then made me turn in a full circle to inspect my attire. "We'll get this one," she pulled me to the cashier and paid for the dress in full cash. It made me feel terrible; owing favors simply wasn't my thing.

I hesitated as we walked to the store exit. "What about the pile back there?" I gestured towards the mess she had created. It sounded as if I were asking for more clothes. But I thought that since that heap was already created, the least we could do was to try the stuffs on.

"They'll fold it back up, we can't spend our whole day in one place can we?" she said nonchalantly, before bringing me over to the next store. I felt sorry for the storekeepers, the pile was gigantic.

The remainder of the night was spent running around to different shops searching for clothing. Hollie was starting to seem more human to me, she was too nice to be anything else. I was babied throughout, showered with gifts and compliments. Sadly she wasn't human, but who was I too judge? I'm not human myself. I shuddered at the thought.

By the time the clock hit eleven most of the stores were closed. I wished they did so earlier since the car trunk and backseat were completely filled. We had probably spent tens of thousands on all the goods. I was sure that I needed another wardrobe to keep all the items; there was a whole array of new stuffs – enough shoes that allowed me to wear new footwear for at least half a month, uncountable numbers of dresses, pants, skirts and shirts. Even the small accessories like earrings, necklaces, rings and bracelets were numerous. Not to mention that I had a whole new makeup set. I was totally clueless on how to use cosmetics. Who knew that so much could be bought in one night?

We left towards Senado Square and travelled to a district with skyscrapers once more. She pulled over to a back alley which had a sign with neon lights. I couldn't read it because it was in Chinese; it added to my suspicion of the place. It looked very dangerous; the alley was dark and dirty, with brown worn-out cartons and broken beer bottles scattered across the floor. Thugs, or vampires, could jump out at any moment.

"Where is this place?" I said as I tried to balance on my new platform heels. They were creating blisters on my feet. I didn't want to wear them but Hollie insisted that it had to match the dress.

"It's just some monster hideout. I wanted to go to some posh place but Adan demanded that we meet him here. He's such a pushover; something about the blood they serve here being sweeter and O negative," I cringed at her words.

"They serve blood here?" I wanted to scurry back to the car and head back to the apartment, too bad I didn't have the car keys.

"Calm down, you're safe with me," It seemed unbelievable. Hollie had a petite frame and looked like she wouldn't even be able to fight off a grown man, let alone a scary werewolf. Although I trusted that she could beat up a few of them if she wanted to, she was a true-blood after all.

I braced myself before we stepped in. I was expecting a mass of monsters. The images from horror movies and television shows flashed across my mind; grotesque werewolves in their towering forms and hissing serpent creatures. As the door swung opened, I gulped.

It was a rather large enclosure, with disco lights flashing about and booming techno music that almost gave me a headache. There were two different bars opposite each other, both had filled seats. The place was furnished nicely, with designer sofas and coffee tables found at small corners of the pub.

There wasn't a mass of monsters as I had expected. Everyone there looked human – almost. They had human features, eyes, noses, mouths, ears. No disgusting slithering snakes or tails. But their features looked inhuman somehow; perhaps they were too attractive, but they didn't seem normal.

Hollie laughed next to me, "very different from what you expected isn't it? No slithering snakes." My eyes widened. How did she know that?

"You can read minds?"

"When I feel like it, I hardly ever, too confusing, you might be able to do it too," she said before leading me into the pub. I followed her behind closely. My eyes scanned the area; I couldn't help but notice the drinks, many of them were thick and dark red. The clubbers were sipping on them casually while dancing, some of them glugging it down hungrily. The sight made me gag.

"You'll get used to it; Adan's right there waiting for us," she motioned towards a dark figure at a bar table. The monsters seemed to avoid him like the plague. There was an empty space around him which seemed very strange since the rest of the pub was full.

Adan turned to us the moment she uttered her words; he heard her. He gave both of us a welcoming grin and gestured for us to come over. Hollie made the way for me; the monsters let her pass with no question. They all knew that she was important. All doubts of them being the strongest demons vanished at that point. Their power was represented by the amount of respect these monsters gave them. The creatures were staring at me as I walked by; I stumbled behind Hollie clumsily, feeling small and helpless.

"Hey girls, ready to get started?" Adan smirked, he had something planned.

"Ready," Hollie chirped; I was clueless as to what was going on. The glances those two were exchanging made it obvious that they were in cahoots with something.

"What am I supposed to be ready for?" I said questioningly. Something told me that I wasn't going to like what was coming.

Both of them shared a knowing look. Adan called the bartender over. She was a sweet young girl that looked seventeen. I thought that she might've been human, but when she smiled at Adan two small canines glistened. The girl definitely wasn't human.

"Can I have a glass of B plus please," Adan said. The girl nodded and walked off to collect it.

"Please don't drink it in front of me, it makes me nauseas looking at people drink blood," I shook my head.

Adan placed a finger on my chin and lifted my gaze to his. "Oh we're not drinking it darling," he chuckled and quirked a smile. I had a questioning expression for while, my head tilted sideways and my brows furrowed. Then, a realization hit me. My palms started feeling clammy and my heart starting beating faster. I looked towards Hollie, pleading for help with a panicked expression.

"You are," she said, completely ignoring my fear. "It's for your own good honey, we need to do this."

How could drinking blood be for my own good? It was vile and for monsters. Not for a human like me; at least personality wise, though I had a weird one.

"Please, please no," I begged. The bartender returned with a martini glass containing a think slimy liquid. I shifted my gaze around the pub; many monsters were listening in and observing this amusing event.

I quickly tried to escape, but Adan swiftly pulled me closer and placed his hand behind my head. Within seconds the martini glass was pressed against my lips. I could feel the red wet substance trying to seep in, but I kept my lips shut tight. "Drink," Adan said. My pleading eyes stared straight at his stern face, begging for mercy, for this nonsense to end.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

** Uncontrollable**

**_Adan_**

Evelyn's eyes were tearing, and they looked at me with fear, hate and disgust. Her hands were trembling and I could hear her soft whimpers. I didn't show it, but my heart clenched whenever she showed evidence of detesting me, which happened to be all the time apparently. It made me want to go down on my knees, say sorry and appease her. But that was just weak, unlike me; my affections made me so weak.

Truth was, the minute I set my eyes on her, heard her speak, a feeling that we were meant to be struck me. I wanted to take her down to my quarters, keep her there, so that she would be just mine. It was a feeling so strong, impossible to ignore. Though, it seemed so irrational, and it left my emotions completely at her mercy. No way in hell was I going to show that. My mind told me to hate her, since she was the cause of all my emotional torment. My heart however, begged for her attention and care, like how any pathetic human being would need consoling from their spouses.

"Drink," I said. My tone was hard and stern. Her frail slender fingers wrapped around my wrists, trying to pull the glass away from her mouth. "Drink it," I commanded once more, pressing the glass harder onto her mouth, hoping that she would give up soon. I couldn't stand torturing and tormenting her like this, she looked like she was in pain.

Soon her lips parted slightly and gave way to the red substance. Only a small amount seeped in, but that was enough. Her face contorted at first, she found the blood sickening. I willed my mind towards her and prodded her thoughts.

_What have I done to deserve this? He just wants to ruin my life; wish he could just burn in hell where he belongs._I tried my hardest not to show the grimace on my face, if only she could understand.

After her first taste, she started enjoying it. Evelyn took a few big gulps, emptying the martini glass quickly. Her eyes widened when she realized what she had done. She took a few wobbly steps away from me. _What happened to me? I was drinking that like I was a demon._A demon. That was what we were trying to make her. We needed her to be one. Not for our own personal gain, Hollie and me, but because she was of age. There were so many reasons why other monsters were going to try to kill her now; to make me or Jason fall, to tap on her powers. She needed to learn to protect herself. This was the first step.

"What have you done to me?" She spat at me. Evelyn was enraged, she looked at me like she wanted to kill me, glaring at me with her eyes squinted. I wanted to hug her right then, tell her that it was for her own good and it needed to be done. My stubbornness wouldn't let me. I stilled for a minute, and then smirked when I thought of what to say.

"You didn't think that you'd be able to be my bride being so weak did you? I like my women strong, and that blood was to make you strong woman," I sounded like such an a-hole every time I spoke to her; ironic, since she was the only person I wanted to be nice to.

She hated me more than anything else now, I was sure of it. "I'd be the last person to want to marry you _Adan,_ I hate you, you've ruined my life and you don't care. Monster!" The words rolled off her tongue quickly, like she found them distasteful. She uttered them venomously; I wanted to flinch, but I didn't want to show that I cared. When have I ever cared about anything? I never did. And yet, past all that venom and madness, I still found her the most amazing person in the world. See what she does to me?

"Think what you want, I'll make you do it whether you like it or not," I actually didn't want to force her to marry me, I'd have preferred it if she chose. Everything I was doing was all wrong.

"I wish you were dead."

"Too bad most wishes don't come true," I shrugged.

It was then when Hollie decided to step in. She gave out an exasperated sigh and rolled her eyes. "Cut this out guys, you're giving these monsters too much of a show." Why did that matter? I'd burn them all dead if I wanted to. Evelyn seemed to care though; she peered around, and seemed to shrink a bit, embarrassed by her actions. "Besides, I think Evelyn really needs a good rest." I agreed with Hollie.

"Why should I listen to you? You were in cahoots with him," her accusation was more of a whine.

"It really was for your own good, I'll explain later," Hollie said. "Let's just go home first okay?"

"No." Evelyn crossed her arms and pouted her lips like a spoiled child.

"Come on, you want the details don't you?" Hollie wrapped her arms around Evelyn's. Evelyn's body relaxed, her demeanor calming down. She obediently followed Hollie as they walked towards the exit. The monsters made way. I stalked behind them, mentally chastising myself for not being nicer with Evelyn; Hollie charmed her so easily. I envied her for her abilities, perhaps it was that female connection they shared. I growled softly with annoyance.

I worriedly shifted my glance to her numerous times during the car ride. They were quick glances, not more than a second. It was enough to notice her features; her hair was getting darker, if that were possible, and her skin smoother. My eyes darted around as I looked at her, trying to catch any negative symptoms. There was one – her breathing was becoming harder and less controlled.

"Are you okay Lyn sweetheart?" Hollie said, looking at the rearview mirror as she drove.

"Yeah," her body was slumped against the chair, cold sweat apparent. Evelyn's voice was not more than a whisper, it was raspy, the coughing probably made it harder to speak.

"Shhh," I scooted over next to her and wrapped her in my arms.

"Get away from me," she weakly tried to squirm away, but gave up almost immediately. "You did this to me."

"I know, and I don't regret it," I tucked her curls behind her ear as I wiped her sweat off with my silk handkerchief. "Your body is changing, it needs to, be strong."

"So that I can be your," she coughed, "your stupid wife?"

"No, not that," I sighed, "to protect yourself, so that you don't get hurt."

Evelyn didn't say anything. She lied still in my arms, allowing my words to sink. There was no argument whatsoever; the changes were making her too tired. Her eyes had fallen shut, and I sensed her heart beat and breathing slow, though they were still much harder than usual. All that was heard was the soft humming of the whirring wheels, and her soothing breaths.

I stared at her sleeping face. It didn't matter since she was unaware now. The beautiful city lights dashed past us. But the scenery didn't matter. All I could see was Evelyn. Her angelic face looked at peace as she lay in my arms. I could stay in that position forever. The slight changes of her features, such as her deeper eye crease, magnified her beauty; a sight I never thought would happen, since I already found her beautiful enough the first time I saw her.

"Wake up sweetheart," Hollie said softly to her, "we're back at the apartment."

"I could just carry her you know?" I whispered, not wanting to disturb her sleep. It was too late however; Evelyn's eyes were already opening lazily, with her giving a few small hums, as she woke from her dream.

Her condition had returned to normal. The traffic jam had given her ample time. Transitions didn't usually last more than half a day; considering that Evelyn's was really small since she had strong demon blood in her, it didn't even need two hours.

She followed us slowly up to her room. "I feel funny," she said, looking at Hollie. Was she childishly ignoring me? I was treating her so nicely throughout the ride.

"You make that sound like it's a problem. Aren't you always 'funny'?" I was mocking at her and I knew it, unwise decision considering that she was still a bit unaccustomed to her new state.

"Whatever Adan," she brushed me off. "Hollie what's happening to me? I'm so thirsty."

"Thirsty?" Hollie said. She grabbed Evelyn's arm and pried her mouth open, inspecting it. I could see it too; there were two sharp, but small, canines glinting at us. "She needs blood Adan."

"I know. I'll be back, you bring her upstairs first," I said.

There wasn't any time to waste. Within several short minutes I was outside of Spenser's house, at the west of London. Hastily, I ringed his doorbell; he was taking too long to answer it. My right foot was tapping on the concrete, if he made me wait for a minute more I'd rip off his front door. Evelyn was hungry and I needed to give her blood.

"Who may you be looking for?" The young vampire finally answered the door. He made me wait two minutes. I growled at him. "Oh! My lord, I haven't seen you in a while."

"Just shut up and pass me the blood. I want twenty bags of any kind."

"Yes immediately," he scurried off. I could hear the sloshing of the bags as he quickly packed them in a bag. The lad had been recently turned by one of my underlings. Money was still his love, a trait he picked up from his human years. He created a lucrative business selling blood bags he bought in bulk from the black market to vampires and all blood-loving creatures.

"I added in a complimentary five bags my lord," Spenser said. He brought me the bag and passed it over.

"Thanks, I'll be off."

"Uh my lord, that'll be twenty-eight thousand pounds," he reached out and tried to stop me.

Sadly for him, I didn't feel like paying. "And if I don't pay?" I towered over his small frame and narrowed my eyes.

"I wish you a good day," he gulped, his eyes looking at me pleadingly. I would have killed him for his audacity, but he was one of my best blood bag suppliers and I didn't want to waste my time. I grunted, before moving back to the Macau apartment, leaving him cowering from fear at his front door.

The place was too quiet when I returned. I had expected at least listening to Hollie and Evelyn chat, or giggle, whatever girls liked to do with each other. Evelyn's room entrance was left gaping open; I crept over silently, and looked to see what was happening. She was glaring at herself at the mirror, her face shocked.

"This isn't me," her hands were exploring the crevices of her face, disbelieving her transformation.

"You look prettier," Hollie stood at her side, trying to console her.

"I know. But this isn't me." It was completely her, I loved it nevertheless. Though, I liked her just as much before her changing.

"I need the blood now Hollie, my throat, my chest, everything, its burning."

I cleared my throat, signaling my arrival. "I'm back with supper girls."

Evelyn turned to me, her eyes were indeed burning. She looked like a crazed animal. The bloodlust was getting to her head. She ran to me quickly, eager for the blood, but Hollie stopped her.

"Control dear," Hollie pushed her onto the bed. Yes, she needed to learn control. We couldn't afford to let her drain a whole civilization now, although I would love that view, my blood-covered Evelyn. The thought made me smirk. "We'll eat together; just give me five minutes to talk to Adan." She bent down to give a sisterly kiss on her forehead. I wanted to give her a kiss on the forehead. Lucky.

Hollie walked to me and shut the door behind her. "She's settling into her demonic nature pretty well," I flashed to Hollie a wry smile. "I think she hates it."

"Yeah," Hollie frowned. "She can't control it Adan, her cravings, her powers, her emotions. It's almost as if she's a newborn vampire, just more dangerous—she caused the floor to freeze over 3 times before you arrived. Her grief. I had to fix it." Vampires were far lower on the monster chain than demons, everybody knew that. "If she doesn't learn to control it, everything is going to fall apart Adan; she won't even be able to protect herself from young monsters."

"We'll teach her," I shrugged. "You'll teach her, she listens to you, nothing you can't handle." I wanted to pout, but that was unmanly.

"Not as well as you can," Hollie said.

"Are you kidding? She hates me."

"She's your mate, I know she'd love you if you actually tried to be nice to her," I did try. I tried in the car; Evelyn just didn't appreciate my kindness. And I did heal her after that incident with Jason. I never was so affectionate to anyone else before. Not even Hollie.

"I did try."

"Try harder," she rolled her eyes. It was obvious that I spent most of the time being mean to her and giving snide remarks. But I couldn't help it. I needed to save my demon-man pride. "Your demon-man pride isn't as important as her feelings Adan, and you know that." Fine, that was true. Evelyn was top priority.

I prepared two wine glasses of blood for Hollie and I, Evelyn would have to drink from a few blood packets. A wine glass would be insufficient for her new state.

"I brought food," maybe she'd be thankful for this; she might love me a bit more.

The room was empty.

My eyes scanned across the area, my vision darting across it over and over again. Evelyn was gone. The window was wide open, the curtains blown around by the cold outside wind. "Evelyn!" I shouted, calling for her, though I knew that I wouldn't get an answer.

"Hollie, Evelyn's gone," she ran to me immediately, gasping when she saw the same emptiness I did. "Find her, Now!" I threw the glasses and bags on the ground, too panicked to set them aside neatly.

I searched the night hastily, looking for any signs. There were none. Anything could have happened to her, the worst case scenario was her being abducted by one of my enemies. I cursed at my carelessness; I shouldn't have left her out of my sight. Sensing for her aura didn't work either, she was still too weak. Every other demon in the area shadowed her presence, it didn't help that Macau was one of the most attractive gathering grounds for monsters.

It wasn't long before I heard something. There were screams, cries, pleas from a distance. The cop siren was wailing, more than one. At least four police cars were there. I rushed over to the area. It was strewn with panic, women and men running all around the place and little children lost and crying for their mothers. The smell of blood was thick in the air.

Evelyn was here. I was sure of it.

I had hoped that she was the cause for trouble and not a victim of it. But the smell of blood wasn't hers; I'd be able to recognize hers from ten hundred miles away.

I made my way through the crowd, past the police, that tried to stop me. I broke some of their necks, it didn't matter since nobody would question about it cause of the chaos. I had no time to deal with their nonsense. Guns shot at me; they entered my body with no consequence. The cops shot more, but I ignored them and walked closer to Evelyn.

At the centre of the commotion was a crouching figure. There was a dead man lying in the middle of the street. His eyes were open. His neck was torn out; the blood was oozing profusely from his gashing wound. A disgusting sight. Crouched over him was his murderer, lapping greedily over his bleeding throat. She emitted loud, crazed growls as she bit at the wound repeatedly, trying to get as much blood as she could from her victim.

"Evelyn?" She failed to notice me. "Evelyn stop, you've had enough." I walked over to her and placed my hand on her shoulder.

She turned to me and barred her teeth, growling like an animal. I thought that she was going to bite me, but when she saw my face she calmed down. She became placid, looking slightly confused.

"Adan? What just happened?"

I lifted her up to her feet and hugged her tightly, stroking her hair, "its okay, you're fine."

Her body sunk into mine; I could hear her whimpering and sobbing.

"What have I done?"


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

**The Hunt**

_Jason  
_

I doubt that I had ever searched for anything this hard in my entire life; and considering how long I lived that was quite substantial. I was sure that I had searched every continent—Adan must have concealed their presence, or had Hollie do the deed. Regardless, I was getting close. My subjects had found a source that had clues of Adan, and I was on my way to get them. Unfortunately, he had been of Adan's descent, which meant that his loyalties lay with my enemy. I was going to pry the information out nevertheless.

He was in a small apartment at the west of London. The door looked torn, weak and tattered, with yellow paint coming off at the sides. There wasn't any need for formalities, I kicked the door down and it crashed onto the ground, sending a few splinters flying around its parameters. I walked in slowly into the white-painted room. The room's furniture was modernistic, with stylish features, though minimalistic at the same time, highly contrastable with its entrance. My two subjects were trailing behind me, scanning the compound as I was.

"Spenser?" I said, making sure that my voice reached every nook and cranny of the place. It was an order, a command; my voice was stern without a hint of leniency.

There was no response.

"Search the place," I said, nodding my head towards the area. My subjects obeyed at once, darting into the different rooms of the house. I waited patiently, grounded at my position and crossing my arms.

"My lord, we found him," Travix said, his voice reaching from the room on my right. The werewolf dragged out a frightened vampire towards me. I noticed that there was a large gashing wound on his forehead, although it was already healing.

"Wasn't even much of a fight, he was cowering beneath a bed, hugging a bunch of blood packets." I could see why he lost so easily, he was short and skinny, with little muscle on his frame. Rather odd for a vampire— maybe something went wrong with his changing. Hopefully he made up for his lack of strength with a higher intellect. He ought to be wise enough to give me the right answers.

"Hello Spenser." He was staring at the marble tiles beneath him, trying to avert my gaze. "I'll get straight to the point – do you know where _Adan _is?"

"No, my lord," he squeaked.

I punched his chest, chuckling darkly as he grimaced and groaned in pain.

"Look at me," I spat at his face, causing him to flinch. He lifted his head slowly, his gaze reaching mine. I could see the fear pooling in his eyes, he might've even wet his pants.

"I'm telling the truth my lord," he said quickly, coughing after his sentence.

"Then have you seen him recently?" I was circling around him like a predator. He remained tensed at his position; his legs closed and arms to his side. I heard a small gulp.

He remained silent for a while, pondering over my question. "No, my lord," he said. What a liar.

I narrowed my eyes as I looked at him, and then stepped back. "Sasha," I said.

The girl sitting on the red couch behind me responded at once, "As you wish, my lord." She walked up slowly to Spenser, giving out a low, wicked laugh. He took a step away from her, afraid of what was coming.

The banshee lifted her mouth to Spenser's ear. It would have seemed seductive, but I knew what was coming. Her mouth gaped open and there was a loud unbearable screech that escaped her lips. Well, at least to Spenser. He was her target and him alone.

My other minions and I stood uncaringly at the sidelines, watching as Spenser crumbled to the cold floor. His palms were pressed hard against his ears, trying to stop listening to the horrendous sound. "I'll tell, stop, I'll tell," he choked. The small weakling had a very tiny threshold. It was barely even half a minute.

"Stop Sasha," my command was a little late. I wanted to see Spenser suffer more. His lack of loyalty and guts was detestable, though it worked to my advantage.

Sasha shut her lips instantly, stopping the wailing. Spenser tensed; then paused. He lifted his hands away from his ears slowly, uncertain whether the screeching would continue. Then, he got up from his laying position, his legs wobbling as he did. His jaw was clenched tight, still horribly tensed from his previous torment.

I was getting impatient with how long he took. "Now tell me, have you seen him lately?"

"Yes." He was holding his breath.

"When?"

"Two hours ago, my lord." I mentally cursed myself for not being here earlier, two hours was ample time for him to get away. But then again, the only reason why I was here was because my information sources were fast. I walked towards the wall and punched at it, smashing it into pieces. I thought that I came close, but this was another dead end. I wanted to see Jane now, it was becoming unbearable.

I knew that I was pushing my chances, and I most probably wouldn't get my answer, but I decided to ask anyway. "Where is the lair where all of Adan's subjects congregate?"

"You know that I can't tell my lord, we are all spelled to not tell the moment we are created, our leader made it law," he said.

I growled in frustration. "Then you are of no use to me anymore; Sasha, continue. Make sure his brains burst."

Spenser's eyes widened in fear, he shook his head and begged, "No don't, please." She was ambling slowly towards him.

"I have another piece of information that may entertain you," he said, backing away from Sasha.

"What is it?"

"Kaine," he tripped and fell to the ground. "I know where he's going to be."

That information was vital; Kaine would have a very strong lead. Perhaps Spenser wasn't as useless as he looked after all. My jaw tightened. I really wanted to put an end to this scum. Lucky for him he had good sources.

I placed my arm in front of Sasha, stopping her advance.

"Continue."

"How do I trust that you won't kill me after I tell you?" He lifted himself up and glared at me, trying to look intimidating. A pathetic attempt.

"I'm a man of my words, and I promise that I won't," I said. Though, he wasn't going to be unpunished for his audacity.

He bit his lip and glanced at the ground, thinking about what I said. "He placed an order with me. I'm supposed to meet him at _The Den, _his favorite pub along Chiswell Street two hours from now." The bugger could have been lying; but nobody would have been so stupid. He knew that I'd smash him if he did sooner or later. Besides, he looked like he was telling the truth. I could sense it.

"Anything else?"

"No, my lord." His eyes were darting at the exit. I could tell that he was eager for me to leave.

"I guess we should be going," I said. Spenser let out a deep sigh. It was too early for him to be relieved however. "Sasha," I commanded. She nodded, before going closer to Spenser once more.

"But, you promised!" he yelled, his eyes refilling with terror.

"I didn't say that I'd let you off without punishment; don't worry, you'll live," I winked at him. With a tilt of my head I commanded my other two subordinates to follow behind me. They did as I started to the entrance. I heard the screaming and shrieking of Spenser as I left, he was begging for Sasha to stop. It was hard to keep myself from smirking. He was getting what he deserved.

I slid into the black car and closed my eyes. The search had been long and tiring. For two days none of us had barely any rest. There were the loud sounds of the door clicking open and it banging shut. Sasha was done with her tormenting. Little talk was exchanged in the car's premise. Everybody was trying to keep focused, to prevent the dark tendrils of fatigue from engulfing us.

The ride was silent. Sasha and I had our eyes shut, Travix was on the wheels. The engine stopped whirring after awhile; he had come to a stop outside the pub. The rest of the wait was our short chance at serenity and quiet. We lay still in our seats as we waited for Kaine, allowing our thoughts to wander and drift. Travix was thinking about his next hunt; Sasha was dreaming about her mate. I couldn't stop thinking about Jane and her reaction when she meets me again.

Adan must have told her about me by now, that I was a demon. He, she could hate. I had no qualms about that. But would she hate me? It was a dark fear I kept hidden away, though it escaped every so often. The two days I had been with her had been amazing. She laughed at my jokes so many times; if anybody else did I wouldn't care. I wouldn't even tell them jokes in the first place. I felt a weird sense of accomplishment whenever she did. I was getting closer to her, I could feel it. She was accepting me. She was happy with me even. I was intending to get closer to her slowly, before easing the information to her bit by bit, so that she wouldn't be scared. The bastard Adan had to come and steal everything away.

Then, sickening thoughts began to run through my mind – perhaps I was dreaming, I wasn't sure. Jane was sprinting away, asking me to stay away. We were at the seaside, though not a sandy beach. It was a rocky area with cliffs all around the place. I couldn't catch up with her, which was odd. She kept getting further and further. I could smell her tears, but I was unable to do anything about them. She was getting closer to the edge of the cliff. I wanted to stop her, but could only watch in horror as she slipped off. It was only then could I reach the edge; I was going to jump off to save her, but a strong barrier blocked my way. Beyond the cliff wasn't an ocean, it was a never-ending dark abyss. Jane kept falling; I was calling after her, screaming my lungs out. Though all I could see was her dead gaze, staring at me. I stilled when I read the words she mouthed.  
I woke up, everything felt so real. My chest had a painful pang; my breath almost heavy.

I tried to push the thoughts away, but the three words she said kept ringing in my mind. "It's your fault."

I controlled my breathing, slowing it. "Just a stupid dream," I said. Although it didn't sound convincing at all. I had to get to Jane soon; the lack of her was making me go crazy. Where the hell was Kaine?

The devil's presence hit me the moment I thought of him. He was thirty, no, twenty five blocks away. The aura was moving slowly; Kaine was probably strolling along the street, mixing in with the humans.

"We're going in," I motioned my minions towards the pub. They nodded, before getting out and following me into the place.

It was a posh pub. There weren't any disgusting smoke or cigarette odors around the place. It had a nice classy look with it, and was brightly lit with orange lights. A crystal chandelier hung at the centre of the ceiling. Its visitors were all either very rich or very old. It was easily to tell looking at their attires. Designer bags and expensive jewelry hung from every woman there. They were scattered around the pub, holding the wine glasses and sipping from them casually as they talked with a strong English accent. Kaine had an elegant taste, I had to admit.

My aura was concealed, I made sure of it. Together my followers and I moved to a small corner, trying to look as inconspicuous as possible. They both ordered for a glass of red wine; I passed the drink.

We didn't have to wait long before Kaine came ambling in. He was looking the same as ever, brown hair with yellow eyes. Well, almost. The last time I saw him was three decades ago, it seemed like he finally decided to shave off that unsightly beard of his.

He walked over to the bartender and called for a glass of vodka. His eyes shifted around impatiently. Apparently he was annoyed that Spenser was late; it was easy to tell since he kept glancing at his watch.

"Looking for someone?" I walked over to him and smirked at him. "Unfortunately Spenser won't be able to attend to you today."

Kaine looked at me, emotionless. The idiot was always trying to put off a tough front. I guess he had to right to, he was no weakling, and he could kill every being on this planet if he wanted, besides Adan and me of course. "I'm guessing that you need something from me?" He took a sip from his glass.

"How clever of you," I said. "Adan stole a little something of mine, I want it back."

"I'm afraid you have the wrong person. You see, my name is Kaine." He turned away from me and took another sip. I thought I saw his mouth twitch slightly.

"Last time I checked, Kaine was his brother, so you know where he is." I was sure that I had to resort to violence soon; Kaine wasn't any easy person to extort information from.

"I don't babysit my brother." He finished his drink with one large gulp and got off his seat. "I'm sorry but I can't help you on this matter," he said, as he started towards the entrance.

I pushed him roughly before grabbing him by the collar. Onlookers gasped and took a step away from us. "I know that you know how I'd be able to reach him, don't try and play with me," I spat at him. "You're fully aware that I'm capable of killing you anytime I want to." He was still looking at me with a stoic expression. My veins were pulsing faster; I wanted to beat some expression into him.

"Answer me," I said. I could feel my arteries expanding. They were starting to show on my skin. The blood seeped into my eyes. The pub's customers were screaming and running. Many of them left the place; a few of them were also frozen at their positions.

"I don't serve any of you." Kaine's tone was menacing. He too was turning into his true form. My subjects knew that they had to leave. They scurried out of the pub; a fight between me and Kaine would endanger everyone around us. "I work alone."

It all happened in less than a minute. Kaine tried to swing his fist at me. It was fast. I blocked it, and twisted his arm, inducing a loud frustrated groan. He tried his offence once more, raising his legs to kick me. I tripped him with mine, causing him to fall to the ground and pulling him into a lock. Push. He sent me flying to the wall next to him; the wall cracked, then crumbled, leaving customers at the opposite shop gaping with fear and shock. It didn't hurt. But I didn't like being pushed around.

I hated fights that took too long. This had to end. Fast. I summoned the energy around me. Some was dark, some light, and a lot of it components of the cool air. It pooled around my right arm, creating a black emanating fog. The ground around me cracked. Kaine did so too, he pooled it around both arms. I dashed towards him, ready to hit him with my arm. He did the same thing. We clashed against each other. Everything looked like a mess. The energy broke apart and spread across all directions, hitting every single matter it could touch. The glass broke and the walls cracked.

I stood there, looking at the fallen creature that was lying on the burned ground. His clothes were torn apart, revealing a large slashed wound across its chest. The wound was healing very quickly, leaving no scars behind.

Kaine got up within seconds, completely woundless. "I am no match for you."

"Took you a millennium to realize?" I scowled. This wasn't the first time I beat him.

"No, but I had been training and feeding— I wanted to take my chances," he said as he shook his head. "Maybe in another thousand years."

I laughed, "Or an eternity; you'll never beat me, Adan gave you a very small portion his essence."

Kaine glared at me.

He sighed. "It'll be wiser to give you the information now; I'll lead you to my brother's lair."

I raised an eyebrow. He would lead me there? Perhaps he was planning to kill me when I was unguarded, though it was still quite impossible. Besides, I thought that he was spelled to not reveal that location.

"I thought you were spelled no—"

"I am not at the mercy of Adan." He frowned and growled at me. I guess he could get pissed after all. "His witch wasn't strong enough to spell me, and I avoid him every time he tries to. Nevertheless, I still know the location of his stronghold now, although it is changed every few years." It was annoying that he kept moving locations. I had found him before only to find it gone the next time I wanted to attack. But I couldn't complain—I switched locations too.

"Good, so let's go," I said, ready to teleport.

"I still have some business to attend to, settle some things with my men before leaving," Kaine made his way to the exit. I growled, he thought that I'd let him? Jane could be dying at this very moment.

"Settle it when you get back, I hate waiting."

"I won't guarantee that your men in The Underground will be safe after that; unfortunately for you, Adan had already found out its location before it was due to be shifted." He continued walking, without a care for my thoughts. I cursed at the imbeciles my men were; letting Adan find out where it was so carelessly.

I followed Kaine out of the pub and gestured for my underlings to wait at the car. I couldn't let Kaine escape so easily.

I followed him to where he would meet his men. It was hard to stop thinking about Jane; I worried for her. Kaine had better lead me to her after he was done. I'd rip his head off if he tried for anymore funny bargains.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

**The Meeting**

_I killed someone. _I mouthed the words, testing them with my lips. The room was quiet. Still. I could hear the whirring of the fan; that was all I could hear, and the only thing I wanted to hear.

_I killed someone_.

Adan and Hollie were outside. I asked them to leave. I needed the silence.

My eyes were dazed at the back of my two bloodstained hands. But all I could see was his dead gaze staring back at me, and his red-painted face filled with hate, remorse and fear. "I killed someone," I said. My mind paused as I felt the words ring in the air. There were tears welling in my eyes. Though, they weren't shed. I had no right to let them be shed.

My memory was a blur haze; scattered visions flashing spontaneously. A gaping window, then crowded streets, and then the hard panting of my breath. The wind was blowing fast on my face, a euphoric kind of fast. The man was walking next to a little girl; blonde-haired, wide-eyed, face as fresh as a flower. I remembered their laughter. Happy sweet giggles from the little one. Next thing I could think of was the strong undying thirst gnawing at my throat; then Adan's voice, before the sight of the still body of a dead man lying in a puddle of red.

That man had a family, people he loved, a father—just like the one that raised me.

"I brought you some water," a worried voice said. When had Hollie entered? I didn't hear the clicking of the door. "I'm hoping that it'd help."

"The man had a daughter, if he were a thug then maybe- " I shook my head. "No it'd be the same."

Hollie sat in the bed and placed her hands on my shoulder. "Look at me Lyn," she was frowning, her expression sad. "You're taking this too hard on yourself; this kind thing; let it go. If you work yourself down with every single kill like this, you're not going to live very long." She tried to show me a reassuring smile.

"You're talking as if it's normal."

"It is."

Her response was sickening.

I stood up and glared at her.

"HE'S DEAD. He's never coming back. And his daughter isn't going to see him ever again. He probably had a wife, parents, friends, all sorts of people that loved him too. How do you think they're feeling right now? I took him away from them! ME. It's normal? Tell that to their faces." I shouted at Hollie, perhaps even spitted at her. She didn't try to hold me down, or shout back at me. She simply looked down solemnly, nodding at my words.

"I'm a monster now, a real one," I whispered. There was silence; the words sank in slowly.

"You are a demon," Hollie said as she took in a deep breath. "This is your world now, accept it."

"I don't want to. Why did you even make me one in the first place?"

She bit her lip and frowned. "To protect you. Because we didn't want you to die."

"Protect?"

"Other people are going to hunt you down now, because the first part of the prophecy is coming true," she sighed. "Adan and I aren't going to be there all the time to defend you; if you don't get strong enough, you'll die."

There were more monsters coming after me?

"What is this prophecy anyway?" I said, demanding an answer. "It's ruining everything."

"Now's not the time Lyn," she rubbed her forehead and made her way towards the door.

"This prophecy is killing me! And I don't have the right to know?" I yelled. Since when did I become this angry at everything?

"I know, I want to tell you." She looked so remorseful; it made me feel bad for her. "But I can't. Adan said not yet."

_Adan. _He was the one that dragged me away from all this. He took me away from my life once I felt it getting slightly better, just when Jason gave me a glimpse of normalcy once more. If I wanted to kill anybody it'd be him. But no, that'd be wrong; everyone deserved to live. Though, he was vile. And every single cell in my body still hated him and wished for his demise.

"How do you kill a demon?" I murmured, before covering my mouth when I realized that it wasn't the wisest thing to say in front of Hollie.

She frowned at me. "Why do want to know?"

"I didn't mean it," I said, averting her gaze.

"Dawn," she said, looking at me. She looked contemplative, her eyes narrowed. "Stronger demons can only be killed at dawn. The holy hours make them weak and mortal, though their strengths are reinstated after that."

"Why are you telling me this?"

"I know what you're thinking Lyn. You didn't forget did you?" Hollie gave me an uncertain, crooked smile, pointing coyly to her head as she did. "You either severe their heads or rip out their hearts."

"Then you know that I was thinking of killing Adan," I said.

"You can't, not even at dawn. There is only one person on this planet that can and it's not you." I noticed a subtle flash of yearning across her face. "For older demons, anytime before Dawn, they're bodies would be too hard to even cut or pierce through."

"You?"

She nodded her head slowly.

"And Adan?"

"Even at dawn, he's still too strong for the most of us." She shook her head. "You shouldn't want to kill him. You're mates."

"I'd rather die than be his mate." I thought about all that happened since I met him so far. Everything had been disastrous.

"I've known him for more than a millennium. He's not that bad of a person."

"You're just blinded cause you've followed him for so long," I mumbled, scolding her but at the same time not being very sure of myself. "Adan is a monster, and if you're with him then you're a disgusting monster too. You're all monsters that dragged me into this world I never wanted to be a part of."

"I hate you," I said, trying to assert myself. My heart sank but I continued anyway. "I hate the both of you."

My gaze was shifted away from her eyes. I was unsure of my words; they didn't feel right at all. I shouldn't have said them. I knew that I shouldn't have right after I said them. But the words kept flooding out the moment I started. I just really wanted to vent on something; to channel all my hate and disdain for myself against someone else.

Hollie took a step back and parted her lips slightly, wanting to say something. She looked hurt. But instead, she bit her lip and tried to smile. She then shrugged and gazed down, before turning away and walking out of the room, shutting the door behind her.

There was only one person less but the room felt so much emptier. Perhaps it was the guilt that did it.

I didn't hate her. I couldn't, not one bit. She was the closest thing I had to a friend since a long time ago. I hoped she understood that I didn't mean what I said. My emotions were simply getting the better of me.

A sudden shot of grief hit me. Nothing like I ever felt before. The world felt so much different ever since I changed, like anything and everything could spark huge mood swings.

I wanted to hit something; get physical. To rid myself of all that negative emotions. I clenched my fist; a feeling of heat and chills pooled around it— rage and sadness.

This wasn't right. Trying to control myself, I gritted my teeth, and focused on my breathing. It barely worked. If anything, it only became harder and louder. I could hear my breaths clearly. They increased together with my heightened emotions. I closed my eyes, trying to visualize a serene place. _Control._ The place was calming, with rushing fountains and the freshest flowers and greens. The sight was working, until the image of the little girl popped up.

She was sitting on a bench, crying for the loss of her father.

That was it.

My fist flung against the wall. It nearly helped, the emotions left with the one huge movement. I sighed with content, feeling slightly better as a small load lifted from my chest. But almost instantly a larger load took its place. I stared at the destroyed wall. A mass of ice emerged from where I punched, and a web of cracks radiated around it, the crevices burnt.

I was scared. I stood still in front of the damages I made, not sure what I thought of them. All I knew was that I didn't like that I was the one that made them; the thought created an odd feeling in my guts.

"Whoa." Adan whistled. He was the last person I wanted to see or hear right now. "Somebody's been angry."

"Go away Adan."

He ignored me and came sauntering into the room. "Maybe after you apologize, this is my apartment you know?" He gestured at the cracked wall. "Just kidding, but I am going to have to fix that. You should learn how to reel in your emotions. It's for the better."

"Then maybe you should just get rid of me and send me home!" I ignited a spark of fire and the floors beneath him crackled.

Adan calmly took a quick smooth step away from the burnt floor. "See, this is what I meant by reeling in your emotions."

"I meant to do that," I lied.

"Whatever," he said, waving a dismissive hand. "Pack up your things, we're leaving."

We were leaving? Adan thought that he could drag me around like a little puppet. Maybe I could be, considering that I was completely weak next to him and Hollie, but I wasn't going to go down without a fight, even if all I could muster up right now was an argument.

"I'm staying here."

Adan sighed and rolled his eyes. "Can't you just be obedient for once? I mean, it'd hurt less if you were. You could just make my life slightly easier."

"No," I said, trying to sound firm with my words.

"Why not?" He groaned in frustration, at the same time making an exasperated hand gesture.

"Because, I need to get used to my new body first."

"You could get used to it somewhere else," Adan said, he was starting to sound increasingly annoyed.

"And I need to find a girl." I needed to find her. To make sure that she was okay. It was impossible to make up for what I did; taking away her father. But if I didn't do anything to help my conscience would eat away at me for the rest of eternity.

"Girl?"

"The girl of the father I murdered."

He furrowed his brows and walked over to the couch. "You shouldn't care about these things," he said, throwing himself onto the seat with a heavy motion. "You're not one of them now. Think of them as like..." He looked up at the ceiling, thinking of a word. "You probably won't find this nice to hear, but think of them as _livestock_, born for the sole purpose of feeding us."

I stared at him with disgust apparent on my face.

Adan shrugged. "It's just a suggestion. I have some human _friends_ too." He said the word "friends" with a tone of sarcasm; they were probably more of his tools. "But that way of thinking normally helps."

"I was a human too, or at least lived like one; and I still want to live like one until the end of my life," I spat at him, squinting my eyes and speaking with a harsh tone, trying to seem as intimidating as possible. "Until you took everything away."

"Hey, there wasn't much to take away; you were a total outcast, nobody liked y—"

"BUT AT LEAST I was still human!" I said, stepping forward and pointing at my chest. "I still had my mother and father. How am I supposed to return, now that I have this face? How am I supposed to return now that I'VE KILLED SOMEONE." I was feeling like I was going to explode once more. _Reel them in, _I told myself.

"You took away all that I've ever known," I said, shrinking. "I'm not even called by my own name anymore."

"Don't blame me for your recklessness," he said, raising his hands into a defensive gesture. "It was you that decided carry out some Houdini act on us."

"But you were the one that turned me into this." I shouted at him.

Adan growled."For your sake! I'm sure Hollie had already told you why. If you continued staying in your so called 'paradise' without us being there to help, you would have died!" His face was contorted by anger. I'd never seen him angry before. I almost whimpered in fear. A strong tension spread around the room, pushing me down. It weakened my legs, making me feel like crashing down.

"Then maybe you should have left me to die! I'd rather do so than be tortured by the likes of you." My knees were already bent from the pressure; the words were a struggle to say.

Adan growled again as a warning, but I continued anyway, "you don't understand what you've done to me. Burn in hell! You're a MONSTER that never cares about how I think or feel, or how I want to live, I HATE YOU. You've ruined my life and I HATE Y—"

It happened so fast. There was a large impact on my back that made it ache. I was pressed against the cracked, concrete wall; the cold of the crystal ice was felt on my arm and the defined edges of the cracks could be easily felt through the fabric of my shirt. Adan was right in front of me, propping his body up with his arm that was against the wall.

"Stop being a selfish little brat." I could feel his breath on mine. His voice sounded different, darker, and colder. "You don't care for anybody else's feelings do you? Hollie was trying to keep herself from crying and you don't even hesitate telling me how much you disgust me."

I stared at him, wide-eyed and too afraid to move. I could feel the pressure of the room press down on me as tensions rose. "I do," I squeaked, praying that he would leave me alone.

"Your life isn't yours to throw away because it's more important than the garbage you think you are." Adan's eyes were blackening, and could see blue lines fade in around them. I placed my hands over my mouth, trying to muffle my scream. "Do you honestly think that I'd let you? After all the trouble I've went through to prevent your death? Do you have any idea how much I panicked last night when you went missing?"

I shook my head as a response.

"You don't ei?" He sneered. "You don't because all you ever do is think about yourself and all your misery. I think that it is high time you wake up; your attitude is annoying me like hell."

Adan wrapped his hand around my throat, getting carried away by his accusations. My head was starting to feel dizzy from the lack of oxygen. It was becoming increasingly harder to breath. "Y-you're choking me," I coughed, hoping that he'd release me. It was ironic how his very action made him look like he wanted to kill me.

His expression softened, though it was obvious that he was still mad. He withdrew his hand and let me fall to the ground. "I'm sorry," I mumbled. Adan's words did have a degree of truth, but no way in hell was I going to accept them this easily, or make it so obvious that I did even if I agreed. I smoothed my hands over my neck to feel my wounds. There were three scratches around them, caused by Adan's fingernails digging into my skin.

"Come over here," Adan sighed and his body slackened. I hesitantly shifted towards him, trying to be obedient. He scooped down towards me and held my chin, tilting my head side to side in order to inspect my wounds. "Well it's not so bad." Though, he did sound slightly remorseful.

He bent down towards my neck; I was pretty sure that he wanted to lick my wounds again.

"I think I'll let them heal on their own," I said, moving backwards trying to distant myself from him. The last attempt he tried to heal my wounds ended up terribly.

"It might cause scars." He blatantly ignored whatever I said and dived closer to the nape of my neck. I yelped and shut my eyes closed, remembering the horrible experience of that night. I had expected a large painful bite, but all I felt were a few small, soothing licks that flicked quickly over the scratches. It didn't hurt, just tickled a bit. A cool sensation lingered over the closed wounds.

Still, during the whole experience, I tensed my body expecting a sudden pain. When he was finished, Adan simply raised his head and looked at me. "Better?" he asked. I nodded my head, too afraid to speak. His voice was raspy and his eyes were completely blackened with hunger. I wrapped my hands over my neck, still trying to protect it. But Adan was completely interested in something else.

His face was only inches away from mine, and his dazzling blue eyes were looking into mine, holding me in a short trance. They wandered lower, exploring my face. I could hear my breath quicken, and my heart beat faster. His eyes stopped at where I was hoping they wouldn't— my lips.

And then, he kissed me.

It was nothing like the sweet kisses that Jason gave me. Adan's kiss was hard and possessive, like that of a true demon. His hand was pressed at the back of my head, pulling me in closer. At first, I kept pushing against his chest, but soon my mind went blank. My form sunk into his, and I allowed him to pull me in deeper. I kept telling myself to reject him, and that I had to find the act disgusting, but I allowed him to pull on my play strings.

It felt like the kiss went on for an eternity; the entire thing was an internal battle of what I should have felt. When Adan finally freed me, my feelings had numbed into a full emotion of shock. He looked at me with a daze.

"I need some fresh air," I whispered. I was panting heavily. "I'll be back I promise."

I ran up to the rooftop, fleeing the scene. I looked out at the bustling city. The streets were full with busy pedestrians, rushing out for their afternoon shifts, shopping, or heading for lunch. There was a noisy traffic jam; the drivers kept pushing on their horns, though it didn't seem to help them get any faster.

I tried to get lost in all the city mess; to let my mind drift. But all I could think of was how Adan's lips felt when they touched mine, and how I wanted to get rid of those thoughts so that I could hate him— just like I did before.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

** Little Encounter**

We were all seated around the big LCD screen. It was night. My head cooled down after a few hours of thinking and moping on the rooftop. Hollie and Adan said that I had to let the death go, because it was a significant part of my world. It was still hard to accept but I was trying. They were talking about leaving just half an hour ago, but now they were silently waiting for something to arrive. Who knew what it was.

Patrick answered the telephone. "Is this the Krusty Krab?"

"No, this is Patrick," the starfish replied.

Two of the most powerful demons alive were sitting on a big couch, watching SpongeBob SquarePants. It was strangely odd and interesting at the same time. I didn't think that they were paying attention, since most of the time their expressions remained dull. Furthermore, they were propped lazily in their seats, looking too relaxed to be paying attention to anything. That was what I thought, until Adan talked.

"Get's me every time," he said, smirking. "Stupid starfish."

He grunted, and then readjusted his position. The show was less amusing than the two demons. Every so often, I would peek at them, trying to see if they reacted anymore to the kiddy cartoon. I was expecting them to watch some supernatural television series, like 'True-Blood'; they chose to watch a yellow sponge instead.

Too often was I glancing at Adan, thinking about what happened in the afternoon. I was unconvinced that I would like him, or condone his action. My lack of control was the reason for my wrong doing, but I still wanted to blame him and hate him wholly for it. The whole afternoon I was convincing myself to detest him, and to forget what happened. The images kept flashing up nevertheless.

The images of his warm crushing lips, oddly coupled with the blank stare of the bleeding corpse. Adan was starting looking attractive. I shifted uneasy glances at him, unsure of what to think. It was the beguiling kiss that did it—there was no other explanation. He caught me looking at him once or twice. When he did, he simply grinned at me. Sometimes I smiled back, before mentally slapping myself for doing so.

I was sitting a large space away from Hollie. My argument with her earlier still made the atmosphere between us very uncomfortable. I could tell that she felt the same way. At times she would glance at me quickly, wanting to say something, before deciding that she should keep quiet and turn the other way.

"Hollie," I said. I couldn't stand the awkwardness anymore. "I'm so sorry about what I did earlier; you know that I really didn't mean it."

She smiled at me warmly, forgiving me immediately. It took me slightly off guard. I saw her sighing with relief, like a heavy load was taken off her chest. "It's okay darling," she said. She patted the empty space next to her. "Come sit closer." I slid closer to her and she held my hand.

Another hour went by. SpongeBob had ended and they flipped channels to watch Billy and Mandy. Watching television seemed so trivial it was comforting. It humanized the two demons, almost allowing me to forget about all the serious and heavy monster issues. It was a momentary superficial kind of peace. Because the taste of it was made bitter by my conscience, which told me that I didn't deserve calm.

The peace didn't last very long. The door bell rang, signaling the arrival of whatever we were waiting for.

Adan scrunched up his nose. "And we were just getting to get good part," he said, disappointed, before making his way to the front door.

"Are we leaving after this?" I said.

"Yep," he replied, emphasizing the 'p' sound.

I couldn't see who he was talking to, but I could hear their voices. Adan was thanking the man for something, and the man was saying that it was no problem; that it was his job. There was a quick exchange of goodbyes, and then he left.

I turned around to face Adan. "What is it?"

"Mind your manners," Adan said, waving a finger at me. "Not 'what'; 'who'."

We were waiting for someone? All the while I was thinking that it was some sort of important document.

Adan pulled a timid little girl into the room, coaxing her gently as he did.

He looked at me smugly; obviously very proud of what he was doing. "You better be thanking me after this."

She was cute brunette with endearing big brown eyes and rosy, chubby cheeks— the girl of the man I murdered.

I was speechless and angry all at once. Adan was playing tricks on me. "Why is she here?" I stood up and pointed at the little girl. She looked slightly frightened by my action, taking a step back and holding tightly onto Adan. I flinched when I realized that I shouldn't have done that.

Adan shrugged. "You said that you wanted to find her."

"Yeah, but not kidnap her! What's her mother going to think now?" I said.

His expression turned grave and serious. "She doesn't have a mother."

"Oh." I drew my hand closer to my chest, too shocked to think. I had turned the girl into an orphan.

He looked at her and showed her a look of pity. "Her immediate relatives didn't want to keep her either. I called one of my subjects to search for her; she was at an orphanage, they were trying to find her a foster parent."

I felt so sorry for the girl, she barely looked six. "I'm so sorry. Are you alright?" I said, walking toward her before bending down to hug her tightly. I was hesitant to do so because I thought that she would try to run, but she didn't move away or cry, like I thought she would.

Hugging her was the worse idea I ever thought off.

The scent of her blood was so sweet and enticing. I held my breath, trying to stop smelling it. But the thought of it continued to fuel my bloodlust, and it gnawed at my throat; the same way it did the last time, before I killed the little girl's father. It was more controllable now at least— I was still conscious and well aware of my actions.

But that didn't stop me from changing. I could feel the lengthening of my two canines. They protruded against my lips. It felt weird, uncomfortable even. My heart thumped faster. I looked at my hands, shocked to see my arteries show through my skin. What was I turning into? Whatever it was, it was invigorating. A sudden rush of adrenaline filled me. But it was disconcerting at the same time.

The girl was trying to wiggle out of my grasp. "Um…" She didn't know how to respond to what I was doing. I was just praying that I wouldn't kill her, willing myself to stop the hunger. _Control, _I said to myself. Maybe I growled. I was hoping that I didn't. And even if I did, it was better that she couldn't hear it. _Control._ I kept telling myself to control over and over again. My skin and teeth returned to normal.

I let her go as fast as I could, not checking if there were anymore abnormalities showing. I just wanted to move away; the closer I was to her the more danger she was in.

I tucked a loose strand of hair behind my ear. She looked normal, not frightened at all; thank goodness she didn't see me change. "Hello there," I said and tried to smile, though I was still unable to control the quivering of my hands and lips. "What's your name?"

The girl had a dazed look, like she was divided from her surroundings. I assumed that she wasn't going to respond to me. Then, she tilted her head to me slowly. "Angie," she said. "Papa said that I'm like his little Angel." Angie looked down. Her blank expression turned into sorrow, which alarmed me greatly. Before I could do anything, she broke down into tears.

I stared helplessly at her, too afraid to bend down, because I might've succumbed to the bloodlust again. I turned to Hollie and flashed a pleading look. She nodded understandably, and extended a kind hand towards Angie.

"You need to rest," Hollie said to the child. "I'll bring you to rest, and then we can go get some ice-cream okay?"

Angie shook her head. She merely continued looking down and sobbed.

Hollie rested her hands on Angie's cheeks. "Your daddy wouldn't like you to be sad Angie. Your daddy wants you to be a strong little girl."

"But daddy isn't here anymore," Angie said, sniffling as she sobbed. She was rubbing her eyes, like any child would when she cried. My chest tightened

Hollie gave her a warm smile. "He's still here," she said. "Daddy is watching over you, he's your Angel now. If you follow me I'll tell you all about what happened to him." She was such a charm. I was going to have to thank her like crazy after this, especially with what I said to her the day before.

Angie nodded. "Okay," she said with her soft, small voice. Hollie grabbed her hand and ushered her into the room next to mine. I was sure that she was going to work more of her calming magic on Angie. I should've been the one doing that, to offer Angie the comfort I tore away. But this terrible demon thing was being such an obstacle.

My attention shifted back to Adan, and that nonchalant attitude of his. He was sitting at the dining table, finishing off what was left of the glass of rum he poured for himself earlier. "That went rather well." He stood up and straightened his shirt.

"You could've warned me," I said, looking at him menacingly. "I almost killed her right there."

He laughed. "Well, I'm glad you didn't cause you would've went all sad and antsy again."

"This isn't a joke Adan." I sighed; talking to him was so tiring. "I needed to be prepared for this."

He rolled his eyes and pointed his empty glass at me. "Just be glad that I actually tried to do something for you." The demon placed his glass on the wooden table next to him and headed for the door.

I sighed, he really did do something for me. But he could have been slightly less rash about it, a little warning would have been nice. "Thank you," I mumbled, not wanting to sound so grateful. There was a huge part of me that craved to be defiant towards Adan.

He swung the door open. "After you m'lady," he said. He smiled at me and bowed, gesturing towards the gaping exit.

I looked at him, and then looked outside. "Huh?"

"I did say that we were going to leave after she arrived," Adan said, "You were completely fine with it."

I shifted my gaze towards the room she was in. "But I didn't know that we were waiting for her." I turned my head back and shot an incredulous look at Adan.

He reached out and grabbed my hand. "Well now you know, so let's go." I was tugged towards the door.

I pulled my hand back. "No!"

"What now?" He groaned, and slackened his posture in an exhausted manner.

I frowned, and shook my head. "Now that she's here and lost, I need to be there to comfort her."

"Oh please, you almost ate her up."

My fingers were fidgeting. "I can control myself," I tried to assert. Although my voice ended up slightly shaky and indecisive. I wasn't sure about anything in this world. And control, was something that I was definitely not sure about.

Adan flashed me a look that said that he didn't believe me at all. "Really?' he said, raising a questioning brow.

I lifted my shoulders and bit my lip. "Maybe?"

"Sure," Adan said, his expression saying that he totally didn't believe me. "Just follow me; Hollie will take care of everything." He grabbed my hand once more and dragged me out of the apartment. I didn't object this time, and let him lead me obediently.

"Where are we going?" I asked; the streets were rather crowded down the apartment. It made me dizzy trying to ignore the delectable smells of all the… prey. The thought made me shudder. I licked my canines, trying to keep them down. A few loud growls earned me the stunned stares of some pedestrians.

Adan's pace had slowed down. We were walking next to each other, at the speed of an average passer-by. Our hands were still locked together, mainly because I couldn't get out of his iron grip. "Do you trust me?" he said.

"No."

He chuckled. "We're going for a stroll."

I gave him a questioning look. "What?"

"Your stomach is churning and your pupils feel like dilating right?"

"Yeah," I said, annoyed. All the pulsing veins around me were starting to make me feel very agitated.

"Normally, your cravings will lessen to considerably safe levels after a few months," Adan said. So I had to wait a few months? That was too long. "Low enough that you'd be able to walk around here without tearing off anybody's throat." I so wanted to tear off the throats of all these people right then. I could almost see the blood pumping in their necks. Slowly, I nodded as a response to Adan, though my eyes were fixated on the jugulars of the passersby, many of whom gave me weird glances.

"But then, you need to hang ou—" Adan wasn't able to finish his sentence. All of a sudden I snapped. The pedestrians around me froze when I barred my teeth and struggled to jump out at them. Adan held my hand tightly, preventing me from killing anyone. Maybe the blue veins were showing; I was definitely able to feel my protruding canines.

"Forget." I heard Adan say. The onlookers held still, nodded their heads, and turned to walk away. It all went by so seamlessly, like nothing happened at all.

He held onto my face and pushed me down toward the ground, hiding my grotesque form from others. "Shhh… Calm down," he said. I was breathing very quickly, trying to bite through his hand ferociously, but it remained locked into place and his weight kept me down easily. "Calm down… calm down," Adan repeated slowly. Soon, I did, and I felt my teeth recede to their human forms.

"Get me out of here." I pushed Adan away to stand up, which he allowed me to do. "I can't do this, my head hurts."

"See, you didn't let me finish," he sighed. "We need to acclimatize you to this smell so that you won't eat up Angie and get hurt another time— this is the best way."

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. "Okay."

I tried to hold it. I really tried my very best; but every once in a while I would snap. Once in a while meant like ten minutes by the way. I wouldn't even know that I was going to. First, it'd be my hard breathing, and me telling myself to control. Then, before I knew it, I was a ballistic crazed blood-craving animal. For once I actually felt glad that Adan was there.

"I can't," I said, falling against Adan after the fourth or fifth time of an attempted crazed assault.

He lifted me up and let me steady myself on the concrete pavement. "Okay, we'll do this again another time, now on to our next thing."

"What is it?"

"Travelling," he said, walking me towards the taxi stand. "Just make sure not to eat the taxi driver. Though I'd let you have him as a nice snack if you really wanted to."

"Never." I rubbed my hand against my forehead, thankful that this was going to be over soon.

We walked towards a nearby taxi stand and we got into a vehicle. The driver was an old man with a long wiry beard. He had a few freckles on his cheeks and a gruff voice. "Where may I take you?"

"The nearest port," Adan said, leaning himself casually against the leather seat and placing his arms around me like I was his girlfriend. I tried to ignore it but it made my heart race, though probably for bad reasons, one way or another. The driver nodded and stepped on the accelerator. His blood was little compared to what was on the streets; it was much easier to control myself. Who knew? Adan's method had worked considerably well. I'd be able to handle myself better in front of Angie now.

"So where are we going?" I said, jerking my left shoulder to get out of Adan's grasp. His arm was firmly held in place. It didn't even budge.

"The nearest port, weren't you listening?"

"And what are we going to do there?"

He grinned at me. "It's a surprise; you can try and guess."

I leaned forward and rested both my palms on my eyes, fatigued by all that was happening. Guessing games weren't really on my list to think about.

"You're gonna love it, trust me," he said, sure of himself. I was having butterflies in my churning stomach. I sighed, and prayed to the gods that Adan wasn't lying that it was going to be some place I liked.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

** Need for Connection**

_Hollie_

Angie was asleep. Her hair and hands were sprawled out across the large white bed. Hollie had managed to calm her down; she started crying when they talked about her father again. The girl really looked like an angel; so young and innocent.

Hollie felt her blackberry buzz. Thank goodness she left it on silent—she didn't want to wake Angie.

She picked up the phone. "Hello?"

"I'm taking Evelyn back; you can bring Angie along anytime you want." It was Adan. Hollie could hear the crashing of the waves in the background. They were probably at the port.

Hollie smiled. "Okay, see you there."

"How is Angie doing?"

"She's sleeping, she kind of cried to sleep but she's okay now." Hollie knew that she shouldn't feel bad for the girl. They're demons, killing was what they did. This was the only time she got so close to a victim's relative, and a cute girl at that. There was a small tugging at her heart, Hollie easily succumbed to it- she loved Angie already.

"Take care of her, Eve wouldn't like it if she kept crying," Adan whispered. He was trying to hide from Evelyn that he cared. Hollie shook her head. When was he going to understand the best way to win her over was to show that he did?

Hollie sighed. "I'm managing pretty well."

"Meet you back home then."

"See you."

She ended the call and placed the phone back into her pocket. She brushed her fingers through her hair and looked at the little girl. Angie just got a ticket into the messed up brutal world of monsters. No child should have to endure that. Hollie bit her lip. They were going to have to turn Angie sooner or later. She wouldn't live very long as a human. Hopefully she'd be able to last at least five years before they were compelled to change her. The full transition from a pure-blooded human into a monster was one of the worst experiences ever, not something for a child to handle; at least, that was what she heard.

Angie started to thrash around the bed. "Daddy?" She was starting to sweat and tears were flowing down her frowning face. "Daddy where are you?"

Hollie was startled by the sudden movements. She gaped at Angie, uncertain about what she should do. "Angie?" She prodded the little girl's thoughts.

Angie was having a nightmare. The girl was held down by tendrils of fear, her eyes wide and heart beat loud and thumping. She was a few feet away from her father, who was surrounded by darkness morphed into the shape of predatory tigers. He looked mid-thirty, with small wrinkles beginning to show. Angie had the same brown hair as him. "Daddy no!" the girl cried. The man was pleading for the tigers to stop, looking around frantically for a way out.

Then, it went dark.

Evelyn's face lit up in the darkness. Although it wasn't the usual her— she was in her demon form, with her pulsating veins evident all over her skin and her eyes dark as night. She was stalking towards Angie, while letting out a low wicked laugh. Angie screamed. "Don't come near me!"

"Angie wake up, it's okay… shush darling," Hollie said, her tone soft and soothing. She wrapped her hands around Angie's face, cooing to her. The girl's eyes shot open and stared straight into Hollie. She looked stunned at first. Then, she started crying again.

"I had another bad dream Hollie," Angie said. The tears wouldn't stop.

Hollie tried to give a reassuring smile, though she was sure that she was grimacing instead. "I know, it's normal." Her tone was hushed. She didn't know if it was normal, but that was what she read; it was a post-trauma syndrome. "Its okay dearies, just take deep breaths." She pulled Angie into a tight hug and stroked her lovely hair. Angie apprehensively returned the embrace; Hollie hoped that it brought her comfort. She didn't deal with children very often, especially not broken children that just lost their fathers.

"I want to go home."

Hollie's lips curled up into a sad smile. She brushed Angie's hair away behind her ear. "You can't Angie." Hollie's chest pained for the girl, she was so lovely, yet unfortunate.

Angie rubbed her eyes. "Why?"

Hollie thought that her eyes were going to tear; preposterous, she was a few millennium years old. "Because your daddy isn't home anymore."

"I want him to come back." Angie looked at the blank sheets— the poor girl.

"I know. I'm sorry."

"He's not going to come back."

"He's watching you. Remember what I said?"

A faint smile spread across Angie's lips. "People turn to ghosts after life, and they look at us, they're all around watching quietly." Her voice was weak. Sadness was evident in it.

Hollie stroked Angie's face with the back of her hand. "That's right, and your daddy doesn't want to see you so sad now."

The little girl nodded. "I'll try not to be sad."

"I'll go get you some water okay?" Hollie slowly released the girl from her arms, not knowing whether she'd crack again if she did. She took a good look at Angie— her face was ghostly pale and her pink bottom lip was quivering slightly. "Wait here," Hollie said. She left the room and silently shut the door behind her, before walking briskly to the kitchen. Quickly, she filled a cup with water. She didn't want to leave Angie alone for so long; the girl looked so vulnerable.

The dream played in Hollie's mind. Angie remembered Evelyn's monstrous form so vividly, and she was afraid of it. Hollie could remember the immense fear that tainted Angie's mind then. Perhaps it would be better to not bring her to where they lived. It was monster territory, with vampires, werewolves, ghouls, even zombies walking around freely, many of them in their true forms. The girl would freak.

"Drink up," Hollie said. Angie obediently took the cup from her and sipped from it slowly.

The demon took out her phone from the pocket and dialed Adan's number. There was one ring, then two, and then he picked up.

"Yeah?" he said. There was the sound of the wind whirring past him. He must've been running back home. Hollie wondered how Evelyn was coping along.

"I'm not bringing Angie back just yet."

"Okay, when?"

Hollie twirled a strand of her hair with a finger. "Um… five years later maybe?"

"Huh?" Adan said. She could imagine the shocked look on his face. "What do you mean five years?"

Hollie thought that the background noise was slightly distracting. "She just had a bad dream, about demons Adan."

"Yeah so?"

"Well, she's not going to handle 'back home'."

"Why not?" Adan sounded slightly frustrated.

Hollie scowled. "Seriously? You know how it looks like there; you think that Angie is going to be 'oh okay, demons' and just accept it? She's a tiny little clueless girl."

Angie was staring at Hollie, having finished her cup of water. She cocked her head to a side, giving Hollie a look that asked what was going on. Hollie lifted the phone away from her ear and covered it. "I'm sorry darling, give me a moment." It was back on her ear in less than a second.

Adan snorted. "So you're going to disappear for five years with some random little girl somewhere?"

"I don't know, maybe three," Hollie said.

"That's ridiculous; you know that we need you back here. Evelyn needs you."

Hollie was starting to feel angry. Why couldn't Adan just understand? He's being so bossy again. "Well Angie needs me too."

"Then bring her back here," Adan said.

"No."

"Why no?"

She rolled her eyes. "Because. I already told you why no."

Adan growled. "The girl's got to accept it whether she likes it or not," he said. His tone was menacing. "I want you back here. You've got one week tops."

"But Adan!"

He sighed. "Fine, we'll try not to scare her. I'll see if I can do something about all those scary monsters walking around."

Hollie crossed her arms. "Do what?" She was feeling so annoyed. She looked at Angie, the girl still pulling on her heart strings. Angie had already suffered enough. Adan was great most of the time but now he was just being a stupid jerk.

"A spell or whatever," Adan said. "Don't worry I'll handle it."

"Promise?" The whirring had stopped.

"Yeah promise. Now get yourself here before I start getting pissed and tearing people's heads off." There was a short pause. "Maybe Angie's…"

Her eyes narrowed. Hollie could hear a sharp gasp from the other end of phone. "You wouldn't!" Evelyn and Hollie said in unison. They both sounded angry and shocked.

"Yeah yeah. I wouldn't, happy now?" Adan said.

Hollie raised an accusatory finger, pointing at no one in particular. But she was pretty sure that she'd jab Adan with it if he were there next to her. "I'd kill you."

She could almost see his smirk. "Uh huh, sure, you have to wait a lifetime," he said. "And last time I remembered, we can't die."

"Okay whatever," Hollie said. She wasn't going to argue with Adan over this. He was the stronger one and they all knew it. "I'll see you back home then, and make sure that you get that spell running or…" She went silent, her lips pressed into a hard line. There was nothing to threaten Adan with. "Or you'll get it from me."

He chuckled. "Oo, I'm so afraid," he said, mocking her. "I'll go ask our witch, now hurry up and get here."

"Fine jerk," she said. She hung up the phone on him again. Angie was curled up into a ball, hugging herself as she leaned against the wall behind the bed. The girl looked so pitiful, Hollie wanted to hug her again, so she did.

Angie's uneasy gaze shifted towards Hollie. "What was that all about?" Her voice was so small. Hollie wondered whether she was always like this, melancholic and timid. Most likely not, Angie was probably a very happy child before her father died. She should be laughing away now, warm in the arms of her dad, not an ancient demon that played a part in that unfortunate accident.

Hollie caressed the girl's hair. "A discussion with Adan, you know, that guy from earlier."

"Oh," Angie said. She looked down. "Am I going to see him again?"

The demon nodded. "We're going to have to meet him now."

"Now?"

"You can sleep first; we can go in the morning, or we can stay here for a few more days if you want."

The girl's eyes widened at the mentioning of the word 'sleep'. She wrapped her arms around Hollie's neck and hugged tightly. "I don't want to sleep."

"Why?" Hollie said.

"I can't sleep. If I sleep I see that monster's face."

Hollie's mouth parted slightly. She didn't know what to say to the little girl. How would Angie react when she found out that she was just like that monster too? "Don't worry she's not going to hurt you." Hollie wouldn't let anything hurt the little girl, not with how precious she was. "I'll protect you."

Angie shook her head. "I still don't want to sleep. I can't sleep."

"Oh sweetie." Hollie held Angie's hands. "Okay, you don't have to sleep now. Do you want to stay here or go meet Adan?"

The little girl looked blankly at Hollie. "Stay."

She thought that Angie wasn't going to reply at first. "Okay you can stay; we'll just watch TV outside now okay?"

"Okay."

Hollie held Angie's hand and walked her into the living room. The girl was so contained and introverted. She hoped that one day Angie would be able to open up to her. Right now all she wanted to do was to make Angie smile. Maybe she could do that, with a cartoon comedy. They should have it on television right?

She flipped through the channels slowly; there were mostly adult shows this late at night. A few images of scary monsters popped up on screen. She went through those very quickly, glancing at Angie to make sure that she wasn't frightened. Angie closed her eyes when those images flashed, and always took in a quick sharp breath. The girl looked so adorable, especially when she shifted towards Hollie to hug her arm.

Finally, she found the Powerpuff Girls on Cartoon network. She should have chosen that channel first. It wasn't comedy but at least it was suitable for Angie's age. "This okay for you?" Hollie asked.

"No."

Hollie raised a brow. "Huh?"

"The monkey scares me; I don't like the monsters," Angie said, her voice shaky.

"Oh." So the girl was afraid of everything. Just great. Now what could they watch? Hollie picked up the remote again and switched past a few channels. Was Hannah Montana too scary? Nah…

Hollie mentally crossed her fingers and prayed that Hannah Montana was okay. "How about this?"

Angie shrugged. "I guess it's okay," she said. Hollie let out a breath of relief. Thank goodness; if Hannah Montana scared her they'd be sitting in front of a black television screen staring awkwardly into the night. Or she could try to cheer Angie up but the girl was falling over the edge of depression. Making her happy seemed like the hardest feat in the world. _The girl just needs time. _Hollie wished that what she just thought was true.

Hollie patted Angie's head and smiled wryly. "You like this show?" she said.

"I guess, Hannah's quite funny." Angie didn't look like she found it funny at all. She simply stared at the screen with a dry expression, not even grinning, or smiling for that matter.

The demon was at a loss of what to do. She entered the kitchen and opened the fridge. Ice cream should help. All kids loved ice cream right? She took the whole tub of strawberry and vanilla ice cream back to Angie. They could eat it together, bond a bit maybe. Hollie felt like the action of eating from the same container would hold some significance to Angie.

"Here I brought this for you," Hollie said, placing the tub on the coffee table. She peeled the cover off slowly.

Angie took the spoon that Hollie offered her. "Thank you," the girl murmured. "But I don't really feel like eating."

"Well you have to eat something." Hollie wasn't really sure that ice cream was healthy. _At least it's healthy for the heart… I think. _"Scoop some," she said, putting a spoonful of the desert into her own mouth, as if demonstrating to Angie how to eat.

Angie reluctantly shoved her spoon into the ice cream. She held it closer to her mouth, but fiddled with it, not wanting the food her mouth.

"That's not how you eat," Hollie said. "Here let me feed you." The demon snatched the spoon from the little girl's hands. "Open wide."

Angie shifted away from Hollie. "Must I really?"

"The plane is coming!" Hollie grinned. She felt rather stupid. They only did this to three year olds but she was starting to feel very desperate. She tried to make the sound of the plane, though failing miserably. "Oh no it's gonna crash! Oh wait it's back up, yay! Open wide!"

Angie smiled. Not a faint or shy one. A smile; a genuine one that reached her eyes. "You look funny," she giggled softly. The laugh sounded so sweet, it warmed Hollie right up, and oddly enough, gave her a sense of self accomplishment.

Hollie pinched Angie's nose playfully. "See, you look so pretty when you smile."

"Thanks," the girl responded meekly. The bright smile faded, but at least she looked slightly happier than before. Only slightly.

"I'll eat some," Angie said, then took the spoon from Hollie.

The demon watched the girl eat. She felt terrible every time she thought about what happened to her. But that was the life of demons. That was why she didn't dwell over every single victim. It carried too much emotional baggage, like Angie.

But she wanted the girl to be happy. The happiest girl in the world. An instinct started surfacing in her heart. A motherly instinct? Or perhaps it was a sisterly instinct? Hollie didn't really care; all she knew was that she didn't dislike the fact that Adan brought Angie over, and now she was going to do everything she could to ensure that the girl doesn't face anymore trauma in her life.

The thought of the trip back home came up. _Well that's going to suck. _


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

** Welcome Home**

That was thrilling… at first, and then it just morphed into an embarrassing nightmare. We were running over the sea. I did, but only for two percent of the journey. Then Adan pulled a stunt that got me fuming.

"_Ready?" Adan said, grinning cockily. _

_I was getting giddy from the worry; we were going to jump off a cliff and into the ocean. "No," I replied, eyeing the waters. I took a step back, undecided about whether I should follow Adan, but I didn't really have a choice; my hand was held tightly by his firm grip._

"_Here we go," Adan said. He laughed. I shut my eyes tight, too afraid to look at the drop. There was a strong tug at my arm, and in a second I felt my feet fall over the edge. _

_I opened my eyes and screamed when I saw myself getting closer to the rocky waters. "Oh my god." My heart was leaping into my mouth. I was going to die. I was sure of it. The turbulent waters were going to crush me—a painful death no doubt. _

_There was another strong tug from Adan, this time it was harder. My legs were almost frozen but he made me move. I was stunned; my eyes the size of golf balls. We were running. I glanced down and my mouth dropped open. What in the world was going on? _

_Adan had his gaze fixated on me. He was grinning boyishly, having a lot of fun I presumed. _

"_We're running on the waters," I said._

"_Yep, pretty fun isn't it?"_

_It was exhilarating. Who knew how fast we were moving. The wind blew across my face; I could feel my hair blow with it. The cool waters splashed around me. I felt so fast, so strong. How I moved like that was a mystery._

_I smiled at Adan. "Wow, I never thought that I could run like this. They always laughed at me for being the last in gym."_

"_This is actually pretty slow."_

_I lifted my brow. "Really?"_

"_Yeah, it's too slow, you're like a turtle."_

_I was probably the fastest turtle in the world. "That's just rude." I scowled at him. _

_Adan slowed down. "Whatever," he mumbled. I looked behind me; he fell a few hundred feet away. What was he doing? _

_It happened before I could blink. I didn't have time to object when Adan picked me up in his arms to cradle me like a baby. "There now we can go faster," Adan said. He chuckled. He better not drop me. Letting go would result in my really nasty fall… and a swim with the dolphins. I hugged his neck tightly. It wasn't something I wanted to do but I feared for my life. _

"_Hold tight," Adan said. I did as told. "We'll be there in a few minutes." _

_I couldn't believe what was happening. He ran faster, if that was humanly possible. Well it wasn't, Adan was a demon. But still. We were moving at least five times more quickly. I shut my eyes again and tried not to shriek. "Oh god; save me please." This man was going to be the death of me. _

"_Adan please slow down," I said._

_He was beaming. "No way, I'm having too much fun." How conceited could he get? "It's hilarious when you're this scared." I could feel the blood rushing to my face. This man got great kicks out of making me as mad as hell. _

"_Slow down Adan!"_

_He looked at me. Was he going to listen? Then he gave me a smirk that said he was up to no good. I held my breath. "Phone call," he said, before throwing me over his shoulder to free one of his hands. _

"_Yeah?" he said to the person on the call. I was going to have a heart attack. Adan left me hanging and dangling behind his back. I was staring at the foaming waters beneath me, frightened out of my wits. Plus, the position he threw me in was completely humiliating. _

"_You better put me down this minute!" I yelled, struggling against him and kicking my legs around. Adan didn't care about what I was doing. He continued talking into the phone. _

"_What do you mean five years?" I heard him say. He kept me firmly locked into position, running just as fast as before. This was worse than a roller coaster ride. And I've always hated roller coasters. _

"Well we're here," Adan said, all bubbly and happy. He put me down. I gave him the angriest look I could muster, but all he did was laugh at me. "You look stupid." I wanted to slap him so badly. "Your hair is all over the place, and look at that cute pout."

_Cute?_ My cheeks started to heat up but my embarrassment was instantaneously engulfed by my rage. "You're the worst person ever!" I clenched my fists by my sides and stomped my foot. He just continued laughing. "Adan, you are the meanest prick in the world."

"Oh I'm sorry." He patted my head then walked past me, suppressing his laughter.

I looked around. The place was very cold. I gasped when I realized where I was. Adan had diverted my attention so it took me awhile to notice. _This is the freaking desert. _I stared at the endless space of sand with disbelief. That man was such a liar. He said that I was going to love it. What was there to love about a desert? There was nothing to do here but get chilled to death by the icy night.

"It's just sand and more sand," I said, following after Adan. "Not even a cactus in sight."

Adan came to a stop. "Be patient."

He bent down toward the ground and swept sand away from a rock. It looked ancient, carved on it were some words in a language that I couldn't read. Adan lifted his palm to his mouth, then bit.

"What are you doing?" I asked, slightly repulsed by the blood that was dripping down his hand. I felt disgusted by myself. I wanted to taste it. _Demon blood too?_ I didn't want to admit that I had those urges.

He let the red liquid drip onto the slab of rock. Some incoherent words came out of his lips. I stood there and watch him intently. It looked like he was carrying out some sort of ritual.

"What's that for?" My voice sounded somewhat shaky. He didn't reply, but took a step closer to me and held my hand. I glanced at him uneasily, making clicking noises with my tongue (it was a bad habit.). My stomach started to churn; the atmosphere felt dark and creepy. Adan smiled. _What is he planning now? _

He tightened his grip on my hand. "Hold on tight," he said. I gulped. The sand beneath started to sink. _Quicksand? _But the sand was dry. It was pulling me in. My breath hitched.

I tried to jerk my feet off from the ground which held me prisoner, but its grip was too strong. It formed long tendrils and started to circle around us like mini tornadoes. "Get me out of here!" I panicked and pressed myself against Adan, trying to seek protection, "What the hell is going on?"

He laughed darkly and I stared up at him, my eyes as large as orbs and my mouth pressed into a hard line. "Oh just chill," he said. "This isn't going to hurt at all trust me."

The mini sand tornadoes started spinning faster, and they closed in on us. They were going to crush us. I was caught in the middle of it all, like a sitting duck. "I guess I have no choice," I murmured. I gritted my teeth and waited for the worst to come. They were moving so quickly, spinning... and spinning. My whole body was probably shivering, though I didn't notice it. The only thing I felt was the mind numbing fear.

The tornadoes blended into a blur, because of their high speeds. They were only a few feet away from us now. _I'm going to die._ Lightning and thunder rumbled around us. I could hear my own heartbeat.

I cursed at how my ground was holding me in position. The spinning sand was only a few inches away from us. I shut my eyes tight, ready to get thrown around and mutilated.

"We're here," Adan said. The whooshing of the spinning wind had stopped. I took in a sharp breath. _I really held my breath throughout the whole thing. _Warily, I lifted my eyelids, not sure about what to expect. The churning of my stomach was still there. I was speechless. The place was amazing.

It was a city, a medieval city, torn straight out of a story book. The low buildings were made out of stone bricks, and so were the floors. There was a rustic look with the houses—vines and moss growing all over them. I looked to my left and noticed that we were standing next to a fountain in the middle of a plaza; it had angels intricately carved around it. A few horses trotted past us. No cars, motorcycles, or buses. Horses. The area was also rather crowded, which was peculiar since the sun had already set.

I gasped with horror when I realized how the passersby looked like. Some had ears protruded out from their heads. Others had ugly yellow claws drawn from their hands. At the far end of a building I saw a large green ogre that was thrice the size of an average man.

"Desert Grove," Adan said, gesturing to the city proudly. "Also known as my empire; smack straight in the middle of the Gobi Desert." He was smiling.

"Oh, uh, it's great," I said, apprehensively tugging at the ends of my hair. "I love it, thanks."

He seemed slightly taken aback, looking at me with a blank expression. Then, he smirked. "Thanks huh? You're welcome." He ambled forward and I followed him.

"Where are we heading to?"

Adan pointed to a large castle that loomed over the city. "There. Where else would I live?" I rolled my eyes at him. How could anyone be that obnoxious?

As we walked on I tried to keep close to Adan, the monsters looked threatening. But many of them bowed as he strolled by, showing him deep respect. I looked at his back. _Is this idiot really that strong? _Previously I managed to get a taste of his bite, but the grotesque beasts seemed like they could do much worse.

"Is it always night in here?" I asked.

Adan nodded. "My people are all nocturnal; we got some witch to spell it."

"Oh."

"You know if you promise to marry me you can have all this too. Everyone will be in your command."

It wasn't a very tempting offer. His 'people' looked very intimidating and I wasn't sure if I wanted to command them at all. Or if I could. "I'd rather not," I said. And then we drudged on toward the castle.

My eyes shifted warily around the streets. The store signs had all sorts of things printed on them, nothing that people would sell in the human world. Spells and Spice. Pets for Sale: Beetles, Cats and Ogres. Potions Galore. The one that had me queasy and hungry at the same time was the "Blood Bank". Pretty obvious what was in there.

Adan stopped in front of the large metal gate at the front of the castle. The thing was huge. I gave him a quizzical look, wondering how he would open it. He shrugged then lifted his arm to face his palm at the entrance. "Ready?" he said. I shook my head. He didn't care. I noticed that the monsters made a large clearing behind us. _Why? _

The almighty demon clenched his fist. There was the sound of crushing metal. Then suddenly the whole gate flew off its hinges. Adan flicked his hand to his back and the door was thrown behind us. My jaw dropped. I stared at the scrap metal that Adan just made, not believing what I saw.

"What just happened?" I said.

Adan brushed his hands against each other and sighed. "The architect asked me to pry it open slowly. Too impatient. Damn it— destroyed another good gate." He moved toward the castle. I stood still.

He turned to me and crossed his arms. "What are you waiting for?" Adan tilted his head. Then, he winked. "Don't worry; I'll get them to fix it right back up. Should be done by tonight."

That was him; Adan—the annoying selfish brat that got too much power for his own good. Full of surprises. I brushed my hands through my hair and walked after him. I guess I should try and get used to his demeanor if he were my mate. _Wait what? Did I just accept him as my mate? _I mentally pinched myself. _No, I hate him. _

The interior of the castle was dimly lit, giving it a dull look. Though, since it was a medieval-looking castle with grey brick walls, there was also a spooky atmosphere that I tried to shake off. The place was gigantic. I assumed that what we walked into was the hall. It was the size of a football field. Plus, it was well furnished with chairs, a table, carpets, curtains and the like.

"How did you get this place built?" I said.

Adan gave me a face that asked whether I was serious. "Some beings here are architects.  
And once we got the plans down it wasn't hard to build the whole place. I mean, we warlocks that can spell bricks to stack themselves on top of each other. It didn't take more than a few months."

I raised my brows. This whole majestic place took less than a few months to build? Unbelievable.

He looked very smug. "I know, amazing right?"

I was about to make a snide remark when a woman walked over. "Shape-shifter," Adan whispered. She was a tall Asian that looked very motherly. I didn't know why, but it was hard to put my finger on it. Perhaps it was her warm smile, or the way her hair was tied up in a very neat ponytail. She seemed to be in her late thirties, though still a stunner. She wore red court shoes with heels at least six inches long, and a body-hugging black dress that went very well with her curves.

"My Lord, welcome home," the shape-shifter said. Her voice was smooth and comforting.

Adan smiled back at her. "Anything happened while I was gone?"

"Um…" she frowned. "This may displease you sir, but Lord Hearth has come for a visit."

He too frowned at her words. _Hearth… _The name sounded familiar. "Why did you let him in?"

Her face looked grim. "I didn't have a choice."

Adan sighed. "Where is he?"

"I gave him a room sir. He's waiting in the last room to the left on the second floor."

"Okay. At least you're still alive," he said. "Come on Eve, we have to meet Mr. Hearth." Indeed, Shape-shifter was right. Adan did sound displeased. He wrapped his arm around my shoulders. I didn't fight it off. It was futile.

He walked me to the second floor like that, hugging me by his side. It was awkward, so I flushed. The stairwell spiraled up, with paintings lining its stony walls. I recognized some of them as being portraits of Adan and Hollie. They looked faded and old.

The name "Hearth" kept ringing in my mind. I've heard it somewhere before, maybe it was related to this Lord Hearth the shape-shifter was talking about. I was about to find out. There was an uneasy feeling in my chest. For some reason I didn't want to know who this person was.

We walked along the dark corridor, the smaller space making it even spookier. When we reached the last door I gulped. Lord Hearth was on the other side. Instinctively I held onto Adan's shirt, hoping that he would bring protection. He should have been the last person I looked to for help. _Best option right now, _I thought.

I took in a deep breath when the door swung open. The room was dark, like the rest of the castle. Inside were four monsters waiting for us: a blonde woman dressed in black, two muscled men that had brown hair, and a man wearing jeans that had his back facing against us. It was a strangely familiar back.

"Well Jason, nice of you to come and visit," Adan said.

The man turned around slowly. It was him; with his beautiful black hair and silvery eyes. His gaze shot straight at me. I thought that I was going to faint.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

** Friction**

Jason

"Hello," I said, staring intently on the arm that was wrapped possessively over Jane. The bastard. I was going to rip his face off. How dare he touch what was mine.

"Fancy meeting you here brother," Adan said, sounding mildly chirpy. He smiled at Kaine. "Although I don't really appreciate the unwelcome guests."

"My work here is done. I'm sorry brother; I didn't have a choice." Kaine said apologetically. He took a quick bow and walked toward the exit.

Adan flashed him an empathetic look. "Why don't you stay here for a few more days?"

Kaine gave him a brotherly tap on the shoulder. "You know that I don't like staying here." Then, he left.

I wasn't fond of playing games and beating around the bush. I cut to the chase. "Give Jane back, now."

Adan immediately returned his attention to me. He smirked, though it was more of a cold half-twitch and his eyes were glazing over with irritation. I wasn't going to feel threatened; not by this coward. He fled away with my prize like a wimp. Adan didn't respond. If he thought that he could get away with ignoring me he was horribly wrong.

I growled at him. "I'm not going to let you go with what you did. You stole her from me." I sounded angry and annoyed. I lifted my hand toward him, ready to blast a fireball at his face.

"She was never yours in the first place," Adan said coolly. I noticed that he was holding Jane even closer to him now. The bastard was asking for a death sentence.

I was ready to shoot at him. "Get your hands off her." The fire lit up on my palm. Then, it went flying across the room.

It didn't hit him. Damn it. Adan deflected the attack easily with a strong barrier. "Try me," he challenged. His tone was spiteful and his grin too cocky. We were always caught in a dead knot. Why else would our fight last for that many millenniums? I heard Jane whimper from my action. Okay, so I'll try to be less violent.

I narrowed my eyes. Hurting people was not limited to physical violence. "I wonder how does Mrs. Lee taste like," I said, licking my lips. "Shape-shifters do tend to have a stronger flavor."

Adan snarled at me, flashing a sharp canine. "You wouldn't. You'll have to get past me first." His eyes darkened.

"Really? How about the west of the city? Tons of assorted blood if you ask me."

He barred his teeth at me.

I smiled. "You can't look after them all can you?"

"There will be a resistance, and I'll get your city too," Adan said. He always cared too much. I loved it whenever I destroyed what was his, like the other city he had four hundred years ago. He became so lost. Too bad he recovered.

"I'll take my chances; evacuate as many people as possible before you get there," I said. I spoke with a low quiet voice, trying to make myself sound as dark and threatening as possible. His grip over Jane grew stronger. He didn't learn fast did he? "Stall you for a few days. Besides, we're already here aren't we?" A grin spread across my face.

I was winning. I eyed Jane. She was going to be with me again soon. Don't worry I'll save you. Her eyes were covered with fear. What had Adan do to her? Then, I noticed. She looked different, smelt different. Adan had made her go through the transformation. A demon. He had changed what was mine. I didn't mind the fact that she was one of us now. That was good. I just hated that it was him that made her that way.

I opened my mouth to say something but Jane cut in. "Don't I get a say in this?" Ah, her soft melodic voice. It felt like I haven't heard it in decades.

"I'm bringing you home dear, don't you want to?" I asked.

She looked at me fearfully. Fearful? Of me? No. "Why are you here?" she said, eyeing me suspiciously.

"Remember the story about how I came about?" Adan answered in my place. I gritted my teeth. "He's the other demon." He was staring at me warily, not looking at Jane as he talked.

Jane gaped at the realization. "You?" she said. So Adan had already told her that story. I thought one of my veins popped. I was supposed to be the one to introduce her to our world, to tell her everything and explore it together. This bastard liked stealing from me too much.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Jane said. She sounded mad and timid at the same time. Only she could pull off that tone of voice.

I was going to have to explain myself, to a weak newborn demon. I snorted. "You wanted me to just barge in and announce that I was the strongest being on earth?"

Her eyes shifted to Adan for a second. "That's what he did." And I am to be compared to the likes of him?

"Unlike some uncouth and unmannered monsters I actually know how to be considerate."

Adan shrugged. "I was just being truthful, unlike some deceitful uncaring twats."

I wanted to spit at his face. "Who cares about what you think?"

"Plenty of people; if you happened to forget, this city belongs to me."

"Oh wait let me rephrase that. Nobody important cares about what you think," I said. This was a useless banter. The son of a bitch.

"Evelyn cares," he challenged once more. Does she?

I looked at her. "Well? Do you care about him Jane?" I was hoping that she didn't. Her feelings were supposed to belong to me.

Adan and I waited for her answer in anticipation, staring at her intently. "Go on, tell him that you do," he said, egging her on. That was a low trick. She was going to say that she didn't, that she wanted to be with me alone. Then I would hug her tightly and bring her home. That was what I wanted to happen. That was what was going to happen. Because she only saw me right? I told myself that, but there was a nudge in my mind that gave me a foreign insecure emotion.

Her gaze switched between the both of us. "I…" She looked at us with uncertainty. Her mouth was open, but only incoherent stutters came out. It was like there was something caught in her throat.

"I… I don't know, I just want to go home," finally she said. So she didn't answer the question. An emotion of relief and annoyance flooded over me. I wanted to know what she thought but was happy that I didn't know as well. How contradictory. "I just want to go home," she mumbled again, tears brimming in her eyes. I felt a pang of guilt; it wasn't my intention to stress her like that.

It was still a satisfactory response. That was the verdict. Jane was coming with me. "She wants to go home," I said. "I'll take her home." Carefully I made my way towards her, ready to take her in my arms once more. I needed her by my side, not his.

Adan followed my footsteps with his eyes. "No," he said, his tone hard. I had just laced my fingers around Jane's.

"Why not?" I tilted my head and pierced him with my questioning glare.

"She's a new demon." He looked at Jane with a serious expression. "She can't control herself yet."

There was a long pause. She inhaled deeply at his words, and then bowed her head down. "He's right, I can't. I'll kill the whole town."

I sighed with frustration. "It's not that big of a deal," I mumbled. It's more important that I get to keep you.

She gave me a look of disbelief and disgust. "Jason! How could you say that? You know that my parents are back there."

"I'll stop you from killing anybody; I promise, just agree to come with me."

"Adan was there. He didn't stop me from killing." There was a sob in her voice. It was covered with heartache and regret. She's already had her first kill? I clenched my fist. Annoyance was chiseling away at my patience. How much had she gone through when Adan took her away? He was stealing away all the experiences I wanted to give her. "I really should stay here."

I shot Adan a glare. "I'm much more competent than this fool here. He can't even take care of a worm, let alone you."

"Incompetent or not, I agree with Evelyn," Adan said, sneering at me. "She should stay."

The both of them were siding against me. Jane looked at me pleadingly. My chest felt uncomfortable. I tried to contain my anger when I looked at her, willing myself to calm down. "Fine." I gave in. "But I get to stay here with her. And get your filthy hands off her." I shoved Adan away from Jane. He hissed and stumbled backwards.

He regained his balance with ease and frowned indignantly at me. "I want you out of my city."

I growled. "Make me."

"I don't want you anywhere near her, or my people."

I smiled at him mockingly. "And I want her back. Too bad we don't always get what we want."

Adan had his shoulders crouched over, ready to pounce. I pulled myself into a defensive stance, ready for his attack. "You're going to regret ever taking her away," I said. I let my body sink into its demonic form, reveling in my power.

Adan did the same too. "You know that you're never going to beat me." We were both serious. Adrenaline flooded through me. This is going to be one hell of a fight.

My muscles tightened. "Oh?" I said. "I think that the time has come."

"Evelyn, leave. Now," Adan said. My two attendants gave me a knowing glance, and I nodded my head, giving them permission to exit the room. They walked past Jane, who was confused and terrified by the situation.

"Wait, take her too," I said.

Travix lowered his head. "Yes my Lord." Then, he wrapped his hand around Jane's arm to pull her away.

She struggled against him, tugging at him hard. "Let me go." Travix wasn't using enough strength to take her away, filled with trepidation as he didn't want to hurt her.

She fought against him, resisting with all her might. To my surprise she broke free and ran away. Adan and I impatiently waited for them to leave, wanting more than anything to decapitate the other person.

Jane placed herself in between us, spreading her arms out. "Stop!" she said. She was panting heavily, flustered by her effort to escape from Travix's hold.

I was drilling my eyes into Adan, eager to hurt him somehow. But there was a lovely obstacle in my way. And I hated the vulnerable position she was in.

"Just stop it you guys, this isn't funny at all," Jane said, her face showed her lack of calmness. "I don't want this. Just cool down guys." It amazed me that she was still standing, since we were both probably releasing heaps of negative energy; enough to kill a human being.

"Stop it." Her body was shaking and her voice was nothing more than a whimper. A tear fell from her eye. That was when the both of us relaxed from our stances. I felt a stinging at my heart. No violence, remember? I told myself. I hated that we made her cry.

"I just want to talk to Jason for a while," she said.

I flashed a momentary smirk, and then walked towards her, still glowering at Adan, wanting him to stay away.

He scoffed at me. "I can't leave you alone with her."

Jane looked at Adan imploringly. "Please, I won't go."

He had a solemn expression. "I can't trust him." His words were laced with distaste. He studied me; deep in thought. "I'll put a barrier up, around this entire place. Don't even think about running." He backed away, showing me his most intimidating face.

The door was shut forcefully. Adan had left, bringing me a short relief. I was sure that the barrier was already up.

Within seconds after his departure I pulled Jane towards me. She was nicely curled up in my arms. "I missed you," I said, caressing her. "I was all over the place looking for you."

"No," she said. Jane pushed herself away me. "I can't." She buried her face in her hands and started sobbing.

I reached for her again. "What's wrong?"

She lifted her head. "I don't know you Jason." Her face was squinted into a grimace. "I was torn away from home, killed someone, brought here with some kind of black magic..."

"I'll take you home." I was pleading for her love— anything to make her need me. Weak. "So why push me away?"

"And now you." She shook her head. "Now you're this. Like Adan. You were the main reason why I was longing to go back. But now you're one of them."

I laughed with disbelief. "I'm not one of them," I said. There was something blocking my throat, and my words croaked out. "I'm nothing like Adan. Don't ever side me with him."

"You're a demon."

"Like you; I'm like you." My tone sounded an awful lot like begging. I brushed the thought to the back of my head, not wanting to admit that I was made so pathetic because of her.

She wiped her tears. "I hate how I'm like Jason. I'm an abomination."

Cautiously I raised my hand out to her, afraid of her disapproval. I placed my hand on her shoulder and examined her expression. When she didn't say anything I captured her once more in my embrace. "You're not. You're a gift, to me." I breathed out. "And I'm glad that you are a demon. It doesn't change who we are, I'm still the same old Jason." I smiled at Jane. "And you're still you; just a bit stronger than before."

"But I murdered some-"

"Don't think so much about it. If you hate it then I'll make sure that it never happens again." I gave her a comforting kiss on the forehead. "Okay?" I asked, pulling her away from me to look into her eyes.

She nodded, but her insecurities and emotions still emanated. Her lips curved into a faint smile. "Okay," she said meekly.

I stroked her cheek and searched her eyes. It had only been two days since I last saw her. And yet she had morphed into a completely different person. I scanned her face. She was so dissimilar from when we first met; stronger perhaps, but more wary and distrustful. Everything had changed; on the inside and outside. But my heart still ached at the sight of Jane, even though she wasn't entirely the same anymore. Maybe why I loved her was the fact that she could make me feel; never was it like this for all that I lived. It was the prophecy. Entirely because of it.

"Stay with me," I murmured. I bent down toward her lips, and trapped then with mine. They were soft and sweet. I felt her still. My shoulders tensed. Is she going to push me away again? Then, she placed her arms around me, and pulled me closer. My emotions were released in one large burst, and I felt the anger, hate, love and longing rush into that one kiss. Be mine.

I held her closely, never wanting to let go of the warmth. We crushed our lips together. "Jane." I inhaled her scent. It was like vanilla; calming and soothing. Our tongues fought against each other; mine trying to find dominance against hers. I moaned, and I felt desire start to pool around her and me.

She released me. I let her go, even though I wanted to pull her back. Her cherry lips were slightly parted, swollen by mine. Her eyes were glazed over, and she looked at me with dismay. Or possibly regret.

"What?" I said. I gave her an uneasy smile.

She bit her lip. "That... was amazing." But her proclamation sounded like a lie.

"Yeah, it was."

"But it wasn't right." Jane pinched her forehead and stumbled backwards. "I'm so sorry."

I frowned. "Why?" My chest felt heavy all of a sudden, like there was a weight dragging it down.

"I'm not supposed to be with you." She winced, guilt evident on her face. "I want you but I can't."

"We're supposed to be together Jane. I need you."

She let out a tiny gasp, slightly surprised by my words. "But I belong to Adan," she said. I let out a possessive growl. The bastard was adding stupid lies into her head. The thief. "I'm his mate."

Jane looked up at me hesitantly. Mate. So she didn't hear the full story. I chuckled. That was what she was worried about? Everything was cleared up. If she knew the whole story she would come running back to me again, and Adan wouldn't be an obstruction anymore.

She was confused. "Why are you smiling?"

I stroked her hair. "There's nothing to worry about," I said. Certainly when the truth was out she would feel better. "You're still mine."

"But Adan…"

"No." I laughed. "I'm your mate."

Her eyes widened. She gasped, and then frowned. "What? But Adan told me it was him." Her confusion spread deeper.

"Yes. We're both your mates." I didn't like the thought of sharing. "And you will choose me as your only one."

"What?" Her voice came out as a whisper. Maybe the information was too overwhelming. But if the cost of not telling her the truth was losing her to Adan, it was well worth it. "I don't understand."

"You have two mates, and you must pick me."

The door opened, and Adan strolled into the room. Darkness was radiating around him. "I beg to differ. She's safer with me." He was eavesdropping. How rude.

I spread my arms. "Jane," I said, beckoning her to come to me. She didn't. Instead, she took a step away.

"Evelyn," Adan said. "Don't be an idiot." He scorned at me. Jane stepped away from him too.

She was distressed by the both of us. Her lips quivered and she started to tear again. "I don't know," she said. Her knees fell to the ground and she buried her face into her hands. Cries started to sound. "I don't want to choose." She was trembling. "Just leave me alone for now."

For the first time ever in centuries, Adan and I shared a grave look.

"Okay," I said. "I'll go."

Adan tried to approach her, but she shifted away. "No, just go," Jane said. She was breaking down from all that was happening.

He nodded. "I'm sorry." Then he pushed past me and walked out. I sighed and brushed my fingers through my hair. Worry was gripping at me. But with sulky shoulders and pain grinding into my chest, I left the room anyway.


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

** Abandonment**

_Adan_

Evelyn was holding tightly onto Jason. Beads of sweat trickled down her forehead and she shivered as she clung onto my enemy.

"Stop it Adan!" Jason said. He tightened his grip over Evelyn and glared at me. "She can't take it anymore."

I swept his demands aside with an annoyed growl and continued tearing the blood bags one by one. My eyes were concentrated on Evelyn, weighing her response to the bloody scent that was becoming increasingly stronger.

"Please," she cried. "Just stop it; it's too much." Blue pulsing veins started to show against her creamy skin and darkness began to seep into the whites of her eyes. "Adan," she said, choking on her words. Her body quivered against Jason.

I tore another blood bag spitefully, covering the already grotesquely stained floor with another splatter of red. "She'll never learn if you protect her like that," I said. "Don't you need to be someplace else? Your empire maybe?" Evelyn's canines were lengthening against her bottom lip. I stared at her pretty face. It was smothered by both blood and tears. I reached for another blood bag, but paused when I heard her whimper.

Jason was giving me his death-look. The only thing that was probably holding him back was his need to stay by Evelyn's side. "Just stop this nonsense will you?" Jason said, with his tone reprimanding and angry. I looked at the both of them all nicely cuddled up like a couple.

Another rush of blood splattered across the floor. Some of it reached the wall. I ripped that bag with more strength than necessary. "Fine," I said. "This shall be the last session for the day." I swiftly turned myself around and left the room, leaving Jason alone with Evelyn once again.

She was always by his side, while never with mine. I punched a wall in the hallway, breaking it into rubble. The frustration was too overwhelming. The past week Evelyn had been calling for Jason and chastising me while worshiping him. It was like there was a double standard when she compared the both of us. He was just as evil as I was; the only difference being that he was a very smooth talker.

Jason spoiled her too much. All of our sessions ended up that way, Jason coddling her while I played the villain and tried to get her to learn. I have to admit that I went overboard with the last one; jealousy was consuming me. But if not for him treating her like a child she should have been able to handle that load of blood.

"My Lord is something troubling you?" Adriana asked as I walked pass her. "You have a troubled look."

I smiled slightly. Adriana was the shape-shifter that I treasured the most; Jason had threatened to kill her. If he did I would have never forgiven him. As one of my closest subjects she could read my feelings very well and like Hollie, it was easy to share my concerns with her.

"Is it something between you and my mistress?"

I sighed and smoothed my hair with my hand. "Yeah."

"Would you like me to call for Persephone?" she asked, though hesitantly.

I gave her an incredulous look. She had thought that I would need a succubus when I was having troubles with my mate? "I don't indulge in those pleasures anymore Adrian."

"Ah," she said, pulling back a little. "That is understandable." She pursed her lips and looked down, ashamed for what she had said.

There was a moment of silence. I sensed Adriana's uneasiness. "It's fine," I said, trying to end the awkwardness.

She smiled at me warmly. "Is there anything I can help you with my Lord?"

"I would like some quiet right now." It was evident that I was losing the war for Evelyn. She has been completely enraptured by Jason. I shifted my weight and grunted. Irritation and even desperation were eating away at me.

Adriana bowed her head. "Yes, my Lord." I looked at her back as she walked away from me. Then, a thought occurred.

"Adriana," I said, moving toward her.

She faced me immediately, ready to serve. "Yes my Lord?"

"How do you win the heart of a girl?" I asked. The words felt odd coming out from my lips. They sounded so… naïve. But yet, I had little experience courting females; it was either they all came to me or that I didn't take interest in them at all. "Evelyn is quite…"

Adriana laughed. I gaped at her audacity. She was mocking me, perhaps for my show of weakness. I chastised myself for seeming so vulnerable.

"You dare laugh at me?" I asked. Everybody was getting on my nerves.

She muffled herself quickly. "Oh no my Lord," she smiled. "I just find it so lovely that you have so much affection for my mistress."

"Forget I even mentioned this."

"I'm sorry." Adriana rested her hand on my shoulder. "I'm just not used to seeing you like this. There is nothing wrong for feeling concerned about your mate." I raised a quizzical brow. "Girls tend to be quite insecure at times," she said. "They like to be impressed and reminded that they're special."

"Impressed?"

She chuckled. "You are my ruler and one of the two originals. I doubt that it'd be a difficult task."

"Like blow up things in front of her?"

"No." Adriana shook her head. "Of course not. Try something more romantic."

I scoffed. "Romantic huh." Romance simply wasn't my thing. "We'll see."

"Thanks anyway," I said as I left.

"Glad to be of service," she replied.

I made my way toward my chambers, thinking of what could possibly please Evelyn. The woman hated me, it was obvious. How was it possibly to be romantic with someone that hated you? My heart hurt just from thinking. I found myself hesitating to open the large steel door that led to my room, wanting to go back to Evelyn to make up for the terrible incident earlier.

Turning around I walked back the same way I came from, treading on the carpeted floor slowly. _I have to impress her, be romantic and make her feel special at the same time… _I groaned with frustration. "Why do women have to be so difficult?" I muttered to myself. As I moved closer to her room the uncomfortable feeling in my chest piled up. _What shall I say?_

Slowly, the wooden door creaked open and I found myself facing Evelyn and the bloody mess I had created.

She was a lonely figure crouched on her bed; fear shot into her eyes when she saw me. "Where is Jason?" I asked.

Evelyn averted my gaze. "He had gone to find someone to clean the blood." She refused to look into my eyes; my presence was certainly very unwelcome.

"I'm taking you somewhere."

She shifted away. "I don't want to go anywhere."

"You don't have a choice." I was exasperated. Her constant rejection was making me feel tired. I impatiently grabbed her hand and pulled her out of the room, ignoring the fact that we were trampling over human blood. Evelyn walked cautiously with tip-toes, not wanting her shoes to touch any of the red substance.

"Where are we going?"'

I didn't want to look at her afraid that she'd see through my schemes, which unfortunately were not planned out very well. "You'll see," I said, when the truth was that I had absolutely no clue about where I was going to take her.


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14: Negotiations**

The castle was big and spacious, but its walls still made me feel like a caged bird, caught in a foreign place with little that I knew of. It was nothing like home. Home was cold and filled with loneliness, but it was still something I could wrap my grasp around. It was nothing like this place. Jason was the only thing that kept my heart close to home. He was the warmth that I remembered. Hence, I held onto him tight, much to Adan's disgust.

I had been trapped here for two weeks now, inside the dark walls that smelled of blood and death.

We lived in a routine. My mornings I would spend with Jason. The only way to tell the time was through the clocks that hung around the castle walls. He told me stories of his life as a demon, and how to cope with it. He said that I had to accept and revel in it, but not go overboard – it was the best way for control.

Come mid-day Adan would meet us in my room with some blood bags, sometimes even humans. They would bleed and I was supposed to refrain myself from diving into the blood. The two men always looked so calm around the red substance; I wondered how they kept their control.

At first, each drop of blood made me want to claw at my throat to stop the burning sensation. The pain had mellowed down to a soft tingling. Jason said that I was almost ready to go home, though Adan didn't want to agree.

I would spend the rest of the afternoon with Jason watching over me again. I had explored every nook and cranny of the large castle, and talked to most of the staff. Adan was always away. He told us that he had work to do. But once I saw him moping at the castle fountain, staring at his reflection and making swirls in the water. It made me wonder why he kept lying to us.

I was not allowed to leave the castle of my own accord; especially not with Jason accompanying me. That was most probably why this place felt like jail. The only time when I was allowed to explore the city grounds was when Adan brought me to that lake. It was a fun experience; a good memory. But Adan never offered to take me out anymore after that, and because he seemed so cold it was hard to ask.

At night we would have one more session with the blood bags, before I was awarded with blood at dinner. We sat at a large dining hall with two dozen gold-plated chairs lined up along a long glass table. Adan always sat at the very end while Jason and I sat next to him, facing each other. The empty seats made the room feel chilly; the staffs were never allowed to dine with us. Ironically, above the dining table was a beautiful chandelier which hung from a mosaic ceiling that was decorated with images of angels.

I walked to the dinner table with Jason having his arm around my shoulder. Adan was standing next to his seat, waiting for us. The two lords sized each other up before sitting down. I watched them quietly as they had their staring contest.

"I think that we have an important issue to discuss," Jason said after we had all settled.

Adan sighed. "Nothing good I presume."

Jason's mouth twitched. He was glaring at Adan with narrowed eyes. "Perhaps not good to you, but it is of critical importance to all of us."

Adan glared back. The room was always filled with testosterone when these two were together. I felt very uncomfortable. "Can we talk about this after dinner?" Adan said.

"You'd go run off again to do whatever."

"Unfortunately I have a city that requires my attention." Adan let out a low growl. "Don't you have one too? Why don't you go scurry off to do the work you're supposed to."

"I trust my subjects. Does everybody here hate you too much for you to trust them?"

A voice interjected the quarrelsome duo. "My Lords," a woman said. It was Natalia, the castle cook. She had wrinkles around her eyes, greying hair and a thin body. As a human, age easily stole her youth away.

"Your dinner is served," she continued. A few servants walked up from behind her with trays in their hands. There was turkey, chicken, potatoes, soup... a whole array of foods lined the table— too much for anybody to finish. Still, they weren't the main course which I eagerly waited for everyday.

"Thank you Natalia," Adan said.

The old woman bowed her head and gave her demon lord a warm smile, as if to prove to Jason that what he said was wrong. "It is my pleasure to serve you as such."

Then, all the servants curtseyed and took their leave. Natalia sat on a chair leant up against the wall behind Adan, ready to be of service when she was needed.

Jason placed some Turkey onto his plate. "As I was saying, we have to discuss Jane's condition."

Adan looked more intent on the steak that was in front of him than Jason. He cut through it with a fork and knife. "I don't think that there is anything to discuss. And now isn't an appropriate time."

"I think that it is a very appropriate time."

Adan didn't even want to look up at his enemy. "Let us talk about this after dinner."

"Jane is ready to go home."

I gasped. "I am?" I said, happy and excited.

Adan glanced at me. "No you aren't." His voice was hard and strict.

"She doesn't even transform one bit now even though blood is splattered all over the walls," Jason said.

I smiled at him. "Yes, but it is hard."

Adan nodded. "There, you see. She says it is hard."

Jason shook his head. "It would be hard for a thousand year old vampire considering how much blood there is."

A few servants came out from the kitchens holding the main course, which made my stomach growl with excitement. Blood, finally. "Your dinner my Lords," a meek girl said. She was carrying three wine glasses of blood on a silver tray. I patiently waited as she set the glasses next to us one by one.

As soon she put mine down I grabbed it and brought it to my lips, drinking it hungrily. "Seconds please," I said as I set my emptied cup down. Adan let me drink up to six cups every dinner. It used to be fifteen at first but the number I was allowed kept getting lesser as the days past.

She took the glass from the table with her slender fingers. "Of course my Lady." And off she went with the tray held close to her chest.

When the distraction had left, Jason continued. "As I said, Jane is well able to control her urges and should be allowed home."

Adan held up his drink and swirled it around. "I think she should stay here for a while longer. Don't you think it'd be better to be on the safe side?"

"My mother will be very worried by now," I said as I eyed Adan's glass of blood. "I think it would be better if I return home."

"How about three more days?"

"Why are you so intent on keeping me here?"

He took a small sip before placing the cup on the table. "I'm just concerned for you."

Jason had yet to touch his drink. He sat in his seat with his arms crossed, more interested with the discussion than his food. "I am concerned for Jane too, and especially for her feelings." He turned to look at me. "And I'm pretty sure that she'd rather go home than stay here, won't you Jane?"

"Yes I would," I said. "I can handle myself now."

Adan let out a scoff. "I'm worried for her safety."

Jason narrowed his eyes. "I doubt so; you just want us playing on your grounds and that's it."

"That's not true."

"Just let me go home," I said. The girl had returned. She placed another full glass of blood next to me. It smelled delicious.

Adan ruffled his hair. "You guys are ganging up on me."

"Please," I said. I picked up my glass cautiously, not wanting to glug its contents down as fast as before. I swirled it around and let some pour into my mouth, careful not to drink too much—I was only allowed six cups and I wanted to savour every last drop.

Adan frowned. "No; three days and that's final." He stood up, not finishing his meal. "Come see me in my office once you're done Evelyn, I want to talk."

I watched his tall figure brisk away as he left us. "But Adan!" I called after him, only to have no response.

"He's not a man of his word," Jason murmured, angry. He still had yet to drink anything. "I'll take you home today whether he likes it or not."

"I'll go see him in his office first."

"What? No. I won't allow that."

I flashed my mate a warm smile. "Jason, I'm with you almost every minute of the day there's nothing to be worried about." He had a cute pout on his face. "I'll be back by your side."

"I don't trust him."

I furrowed my brows. "I don't know... I think I do."

Jason scowled at me. "What?"

"He seems like he'll never hurt me. I trust him."

Jason pushed the chair away and stood up. "I don't like you with him."

"Well maybe I'll just say goodbye to him, since we're going to leave and all." Jason walked behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist.

He gave me a peck on my lips. "Just come back to me soon."

I smiled and returned the kiss on his cheek. "I will I promise. Now sit down, we still have a dinner to eat."

He did as he was told and sat down. I didn't gorge myself with the dishes on the table, only the blood. Jason didn't each much. He spent most of the time watching me. It happened often, I had gotten used to his kind eyes looking upon me.

"I'm done," I said, after finishing my last glass of blood. It didn't take very long.

"Do you really have to?" Jason sounded like he was whining. How adorable.

"It'll be quick, I promise."

"Okay fine." He had agreed to let me go but he didn't sound very pleased about it.

Jason walked me up to Adan's office. It was at least seven stories from the dining room, on the highest floor of the castle. We stopped in front of an unusually large door. It had intricate designs carved over it, of flowers and baroque patterns. I knocked on it.

"Come in," I heard a voice call from inside.

"I guess I'll see you later?" I said to Jason.

He gave me another kiss on my lips and squeezed me tight. "Don't spend too long."

I opened the door and tried to walk in, but Jason still had his strong hand gripped around mine.

"Jason..."

He sighed, and finally released me. I waved him goodbye before stepping into the room. Adan was there, looking out of the window and into the city. He was in a large leather seat, fit for a king, or more seemingly, for a CEO.

"Close the door," Adan said. I did. Jason's company was gone. I surveyed my surroundings. The furniture were made of mahogany and teak. There was a large brown bear rug that lay in front of me and a fireplace at my side. The room was dimly lighted up with a few orange lights.

I walked to the front of Adan's desk which he sat behind. "I have something I need to tell you."

He spun his chair around and faced me. "I was lying to Jason." He sighed. "You can actually go home now."

I was surprised by what he said. So I didn't actually have to tell him that we were going to leave. "Then why?"

"I was hoping that I could convince you to stay."

"Why would I want to?"

"You don't like this place? I tried to make it as comfortable for you as possible. That's why I let you wander off and left you alone."

_So that was why he kept leaving us? It made a bit more sense now. _"I feel like a caged bird Adan. I want to go out."

He raised his brows."Really?"

I looked away from him and fixed my gaze on the bookshelves next to me. "Yeah, the last time was pretty fun." It was starting to feel awkward.

His lips curved up into a faint smile. "Oh, I thought that you wanted to spend time with Jason; not that I like it."

"Well I do, but spending time with him outside would be nice."

His smile dropped. "Oh," he said. _Did I hurt his feelings?_

I supposed I did since I just told him that I'd rather spend time with Jason. "Not that spending time with you isn't fun too," I added apprehensively.

He nodded. "Yes, I like spending time with you definitely. So will you stay if I allow you out?"

I considered his offer. But it was too ridiculous. I couldn't stay here forever, not when I had my human life to return to. _What will my parents think? _"I'm sorry Adan. As much as this world is interesting, I have to go back to mine."

"Stay for another three more days? You might change your mind."

"No, I can't."

"Please." He sounding like he was begging, which was quite odd. Adan was always so cocky._ Since when did he become so meek?_

"I'm sorry."

He slackened his shoulders and bowed his head. He muttered something under his breath. "Okay. Go. Whatever... makes you happy," he said.

I let out a breath of relief. "Thank you." I placed my hand on my chest and bowed in gratitude._ Now that wasn't so hard. _I whipped my body around and headed toward the exit.

"Evelyn, wait." _What now? _Sweet freedom was just a few meters away. I turned around and Adan was right behind me.

My eyes widened. "Don't do tha—"

His lips crushed into mine. I thought I was going to melt. It was just like the first time he kissed me. But it was different. It wasn't hard or possessive. It didn't scream '_you're mine'. _Now it said _'please, be mine.' _I thought I could feel Adan's entire emotions flood into the kiss. Sadness, pain, grief, longing. It was a gentle kiss, which begged for me to accept it. And so I did, with all my heart.

Nothing else mattered, not even was just Adan, and all I ever did to make him this way. I felt regret, and inside my head I cried 'I'm so sorry.'

And as if feeling Adan's emotions wasn't enough, a large floodgate opened. For one short moment, his thoughts rushed into mine. I thought my knees would give in because of the weight of them all.

_Why does she hate me so much? It pains me._

_I hate the way she looks at me, why does she look at him so different?_

_She's accepting my kiss? Will reject it later? I'm so confused._

The kiss ended, as quickly as it came.

Adan looked at me with a worried stare. "You read my thoughts for a minute there didn't you?"

"I did."

"Don't run."

I placed my hand on his cheek and caressed it. "I won't. I'm sorry."

"I really care about you, and even though I'm a jerk all the time I really do."

I laughed, trying to set in a lighter mood. "You don't show it much."

"It's hard to do."

"I'm sorry for being so dense then."

"It's not your fault."

His eyes glinted for a second. "Will you stay now?"

"You know I can't."

He smiled. "I'll still be following you home anyway."

The thought was comforting for some reason. And I looked forward to seeing him in my town. Hopefully, it'd be a more pleasant experience than the first time we met. "You will?" He might even show up in my school. That was a funny thought. "That'll be nice."

There were a few loud impatient knocks on the door. _Jason. _I panicked, and tried to push Adan away. _What was I thinking? _Guilt set in. "Oh my god we can't let him see us like this," I said.

"Like what?"

"Like hugging and all!"

He hugged me tighter. "Why not?"

"Adan just let me go, I beg you."

He had a cheeky grin on his face. "No." _Great he's back to being an annoying jerk._

"I don't want to have to explain," I said.

"You're my mate just as much as you're his. I have a right to hold you like this."

The door creaked open and I wanted to scream. My other mate walked into the room. He was looking down at first. "Jane?" he called. I was struggling to get out of Adan's grip but to no avail. Jason looked up and I wanted to die right there and then. "Jane," he said. His mouth immediately pressed into a hard line.

"Jason? Wait no I—"

"GET YOUR HANDS OFF HER ADAN."

Jason lunged at the man that was hugging me. Adan was forced to push me away to safety. I toppled onto the ground a few meters away. When I looked up, Jason had his hands wrapped around Adan's neck at was lifting him off the floor.

"Stop!" I yelled. I was answered by loud threatening growls from the both of them. _Oh crap._


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

** Intruder**

**Angie**

Hush little baby don t be afraid

Mama s going to buy you a mocking bird... Hollie sang.

She had Angie cuddled up in her loving warm arms again, like she was her child. It was to help keep the nightmares away. Angie realized that they weren t so bad if Hollie hugged her to sleep, so she asked her to do it every night.

The little one s consciousness slowly faded away as she sang. Her eyelids started to feel heavy and soon they were shut. She felt a tender kiss on her forehead. Goodnight my little one, said the lovely voice. In Angie s subconscious state, she could feel Hollie leave her. The demon made soundless steps and shut the door behind her, allowing the girl to sleep soundlessly.

There were no dreams. Angie s sleep was just emptiness and darkness. But that was what she preferred; at least it wasn t the monster s face anything was better than the monster s face. The girl sighed as she rested. Her face was calm and serene.

It was a cold and dark night, which gave it an ominous overtone. But Angie told herself that nothing was wrong and Hollie would protect her. The girl tried to remain strong, as long as Hollie was by her side. She believed that it was for her father; that she wasn t allowed to make him worry so that he could find peace with the stars.

However, this night was not safe, as a dangerous presence lingered. It had awakened Angie from her dreamless sleep.

Wake up sleepy head, a stern voice said. It was definitely not Hollie s it belonged to a man.

Angie opened her lazy eyes. He was a blurry figure at first, but soon she realized that something was amiss.

Her body shot up and she backed away from the intruder. Who are you? she said. H-Holli

The man covered her mouth and placed a finger to his lips. Shh, keep quiet. I m not here to hurt you. He gave her a smile. It was a fake smile that hid a sinister motive hidden behind it, but as a young innocent girl, Angie did not find anything suspicious about it. I ll keep my hands off you if you promise to be quiet okay?

The girl consented by nodding her head. Her eyes were still widened with shock. The man removed his hand slowly, ready to cover her mouth again if she dared try anything funny.

HOLLIE

His hand was over her mouth in less than a second. Be quiet! He was soft, though he sounded threatening at the same time. He emitted a soft growl.

Angie whimpered, but did not utter a single word. She stared blankly at the man, and a tear escaped her eye. Her lower lip quivered slightly.

I m here to be of help my little one, he said. I have some information that you might like to know.

The girl remained silent.

You shouldn t trust Hollie, he said.

The girl replied with a low timid voice. She takes care of me.

He stroked her cheek. How gullible; you see, you shouldn t trust everybody that is nice to you. People are never truly how they appear.

I want Hollie.

Oh shut up about her already. The man let out an annoyed sigh. She s been lying to you all this time.

I don t trust you.

He smiled. Ah, the little girl learns fast. Let me tell you a secret.

A feeling in her chest told her that she didn t really want to know what the secret was.

You should trust me because I tell you the truth, he said.

Leave me alone.

I know who killed your father.

Angie gulped. She never liked to talk about her father s death. It made her shiver.

The man leaned closer, cornering her against the wall. She probably talked to you just a while ago; I bet you were being played around her fingers like a baby.

Her heart sank. She couldn t believe it. It wasn t possible. Hollie wouldn t...

The man chuckled. No it s not Hollie. Take this. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a purple vial. It was no larger than his thumb and had a slimy dark liquid inside. He grabbed Angie s hand and placed it into her palm. You can have your revenge.

She held onto the vial carefully, not certain about how she should handle it. What is it?

It s poison, the man said. Angie dropped the bottle onto the bed immediately. Don t worry, it only works on demons. He picked it up and put it into Angie s grasp again. Take care of it. You ll need it. If a demon drinks the whole thing he ll pass out.

I don t want it.

The man grinned. The person that killed your father is called Evelyn; some other people call her Jane. You will be meeting her soon.

Take it back.

Use this against her if you want your revenge. Leave the rest to me.

I don t know what you re talking about, Angie said. Tears began to trickle down her eyes.

The man whispered into Angie s ear. Don t trust any of them; I m here to help. Hollie sides with your father s killer. She will hurt you.

I don t believe you. Just leave me alone! Angie sobbed. She choked on her breath. The man was tormenting her slowly, and she didn t know how to deal with it. She wanted to call for Hollie but she was afraid that he d punish her.

The man placed two fingers on her forehead and murmured something. It was in a language that Angie couldn t understand. A faint golden light shined from his fingers before dimming down.

He brushed his hands together. Now that s settled. I just protected your thoughts.

Protect my thoughts?

I hope you do well with your task. Remember; don t tell anyone, something bad might happen. The man let out a deep wicked chuckle.

There was a huge gust of wind. Angie blinked her eyes, and when she opened them, the intruder was gone.

Hollie! she finally dared to shout. She looked at the little vial. It was a weapon; a dangerous weapon. Angie tucked it under her pillow, hoping to forget about it quickly. But the thoughts of revenge lingered in her mind.

I know who killed your father... called Evelyn... use this against her...

The door slammed open and Hollie came rushing in. What is it Angie? Is something wrong? Her brows were knitted into a worried pattern. Angie opened her arms and Hollie hugged her. Are you okay?

Angie shook her head and began crying loudly. Somebody came.

Was it another nightmare?

Maybe, Angie tightened her grip over Hollie. It was just like a nightmare.


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16: Revelation**

We stopped in front of my home; the place I had been missing for almost a month. It seemed so long since I last saw it. My parents were probably worried out of their wits.

Jason let me down on my feet. The whole ride was... awkward. He didn't say a single word to me. I tried to break the tension by uttering a few light-toned words at first, but the only response I received was a grunt and from then on, the rest of the journey was filled with dead silence.

"I'm home," I said. I looked at my mate and smiled, hoping he would return me his.

Jason's mouth twitched. Its corners curved slightly, but it quickly fell back into a hard line. "Welcome home." He was still mad at me. It was obvious. I had managed to stop the two demon lords from fighting, after a few casualties in Adan's office- a bookshelf, a couch and his desk. Jason walked out after that, his eyes burning with anger.

I've barely heard anything from him ever since.

"I'll see you in school?" I said sheepishly, looking at him with apprehension painted all over my face.

"Okay."

"Bye."

Not even a glance had turned my way. "See you."

No. He couldn't just treat me like this. It pained me. What happened to all the times we've spent together?

Well I did cheat on him. Somewhat.

Okay, I really did.

Guilt had almost prevented me from saying another word. Almost. "How long are you going to keep this up?"

He shrugged. "Don't know."

"Jason, look." I sighed, and then swept a tired hand through my unkempt hair. "I'm really sorry about Adan. I shouldn't have done that. But I don't know... I just had to you know. He's my mate just like you are." It was impossible to make what I said sound right. Cheating was cheating. Wrong. And that's that. That mate thing was a lousy excuse.

A growl erupted from Jason's throat. I took a step back. Uh oh. "You're my mate too."

"I'm sorry, I'll do anything to make it up to you." This was the first time I've seen him mad at me. He never was. It scared me. Ancient powerful demon lords were not nice to be around when they were angry.

"You'd stop talking to Adan?"

I gulped. Adan was... I didn't know what he was to me. But the thought of never talking to him again made tears well up in my eyes. I shifted my gaze from Jason, then to the pavement, then back to Jason again. He was glaring at me now, intent on my answer. "Jason..." I nervously rubbed my hand on my elbow and took another step back. "I..c-can't."

He scoffed and turned away.

"I'm sorry!" I cried, guilt pooling from my voice. "I just can't." My hand reached out for him, and right before I touched his shoulder he spun around.

He caught me in his embrace. My body tensed. Stunned. "I don't want you with anybody else Jane. You're _mine_." I could hear his pulse. It was fast. "I don't want to share you with Adan. Not him. Especially not him. I'd hate to think of you with anybody else Jane. I feel like my chest is being ripped right open."

For a moment there I had expected Jason to hit me. But he would never do that. I lifted an unsteady hand and rubbed it across his smooth lips. Then I just stood there, not knowing how to respond.

"Promise me that you won't talk to him again."

A lump was stuck in my throat. I hated to see Jason hurt like this. But I didn't want to hurt Adan either. I wasn't even sure why I'd miss that jerk, but I knew I would. "Jason I can't."

He tightened his grip. "Please." My guilt grew stronger. "I love you."

"You're making this difficult."

"You're being difficult."

"I need some time to think." I pushed against him and struggled to move out of his grip.

"Please!" He held me by my shoulders and forced me to look at him. "Please Jane, I can't stand this. Every time I think about it, his lips on yours, his arms over you. I hate to think about it. But.. that image... It keeps popping up."

His eyes were impossible to look away from. His silvery gaze. It was filled with need. With anger. All his emotions poured from his eyes. I swallowed. I had to reply. There was only one right answer. Only one thing I could say to make my mate happy.

I took in a large breath. "Okay," I said. Sadness rushed through me. I immediately regretted my response.

"Thank you." A faint smile spread across his lips. A gentler emotion spread across his smoldering stare. _Why do I suddenly feel so heavy? My limbs are being pulled to the ground._

Jason stroked my cheek. "You have to make sure that you make it clear to Adan. He won't give up that easily."

"I know." Tiredness started its crawl up my being. The adrenaline from my worry for Jason was replaced with loss. "Good night Jason."

"Would you like me to follow you home?"

I tried to smile. I barely could. "No thank you."

"Sweet dreams then," he said. He leaned down to plant a kiss on my lips, but I shifted my face away, and the kiss fell onto my cheek instead.

"Jane," he said, hurt clouding his voice. He let out a tired sigh. "You'd get over him. I know you will."

I shrugged. "Yeah." I walked to my porch, my back facing Jason.

Why did I feel so much for Adan now?

My parents were probably asleep considering how late it was. I wanted to greet them. I missed them. And they probably missed me too.

I unlocked the door with my keys and stepped in. I took one last look at Jason. He watched me. He probably wasn't going to leave until I was tucked into my bed and fast asleep. That was one reason why I adored him. But it still wasn't cool that he made me swear to stop talking to Adan.

"Mom?"

My mother was still awake. She sat on the couch, her eyes glued to the television. When I called her she immediately diverted her attention. My flustered mother darted her eyes around, searching the room.

Relief flooded across her face as her eyes locked with mine. "Jane?"

"Mom."

She hastily ran towards me and threw me into a hug. "Jane I was so worried."

"I'm home."

"Did you lose weight? And oh my, you look so different."

"No mom, I ate a lot."

"Where in the world did you go? I thought you were on a school trip but when I called up the school they said that there never was one."

I pulled myself out of her suffocating hug. _What am I going to tell her now?_I never thought about an explanation. "I'm home safe now. That's what matters right?"

"You owe me some answers young woman."

"It's nothing really."

"Jane you were missing for three weeks! It wasn't nothing."

I honestly had no clue about what to say to her. It ticked my nerves.

"I went out with some friends," I blurted.

Her brows wrinkled. "You never had any friends."

"I made some."

"Sure," she said sarcastically. My social life must have been really sad.

"Just forget about it."

She brushed my comment aside. My mother was hell bent on getting the full story. "Where did you go?"

I was getting too tired for any more questions. All I wanted was to sleep and have a good rest. School started in the morning, which meant that my body clock needed to be suited for that, even if it was unnatural for demons.

"Leave it alone mom," I said, sighing.

"You don't expect to just get away with this do you? You were missing for three weeks Jane. _Three weeks._ And you expect it to take it as it is?"

I glared into her eyes. Frustrated and tired. Our happy reunion had turned bitter for me. "Just. Forget. About it."

My mother's pupils dilated then contracted. Her body slackened and her head drooped.

Fear took a hold of me. Had I done something to her?

"I will forget." She fell into a trance. Her voice was low and zombie-like. It sounded nothing like her at all.

Oh my god. I had just compelled my own mother.

"Are you okay," I asked, my voice quivering. If my mother ended up needing to go to some mental asylum the next day I'd have never forgiven myself. She threw her head up, then grinned, as if nothing had happened.

"I'm so glad you're home sweetheart," she said. "I'm sure you went somewhere nice."

Her behavior was nothing but odd. "You don't remember? Our conversation?"

"Remember what?" She glanced at her watch. "Oh look at the time. You shouldn't be up so late. Do you sure you want to go to school tomorrow? You must be tired."

My mouth was definitely gaping open. My mother turned from demanding and worried to a cheerful in just a few seconds. First signs of brain damage.

"No mom I'm fine," I said. "I can go to school." _Or maybe I should just skip._

My mother yawned, covering her mouth with her chapped fingers. "You're such a hardworking darling. Well go off to sleep then. I'll tell your father about your return. He was worried sick too."

"Thanks."

She nudged me toward my bedroom. "Goodnight sweetie cakes." She winked and waved her fingers at me.

A pang of guilt swallowed my chest. "Goodnight mom." I stepped into my room.

I compelled my own mother. That was so wrong. Although there probably wasn't anything to worry about. She was always kind of ditzy by nature; nothing to do with mental problems. Maybe.

I flopped onto my bed. Home. There were still trails of clothes on my floor, left over from when Adan came. Nobody had entered it. Everything looked the same. It smelled just like before too. Cherries and sweet perfume. The smell of home.

I glared at the ceiling. My eyes felt like orbs: large, wide- not shut. It was nearly impossible to sleep this late. Or perhaps early would have been a better word. I had lived in darkness for three whole weeks and was more than used to it. It was part of my lifestyle now. I thrashed myself around, throwing my blanket off then pulling it over multiple times. I hated it, insomnia. It created a gnawing feeling around my shoulders as the stress built up.

My thoughts wandered. There was one that was nudging the back of my mind: having to choose between Adan and Jason. I had always read those stories about love triangles and thought, what if I were the girl? Now that I was in their position, I wasn't sure that I liked it very much; I wanted to please the both of them, but unfortunately there was only one of me.

Adan was going to meet up with us. There was an issue about the pixie law before we were about to leave-something about not having enough territorial rights because they were so small. I didn't want to tell him to stay away. I couldn't. I had promised Jason, though I felt like I was unwillingly pulled into the agreement. I couldn't. Not after he had shown me his emotions. Not after I had seen him almost brought to tears.

I hated to admit it. But I actually loved his company, even if he was a huge pain in my behind.

"Then don't tell me to stay away."

I whipped my head around and sat up, tensing my muscles, getting ready for a fight.

"Oh god," I said., relaxing my shoulders. "Adan don't do that. It's creepy."

He was standing next to an open window in all his demon glory, a wide smirk across his face. "You like my company?"

"Don't steal my thoughts. It's rude."

"They're interesting."

"Shut up."

"Jason's being a wimp. You shouldn't listen to him." His eyes darkened to a deeper blue. His jaw tightened.

"Psh. That's what you want me to do. You're on the losing end."

"Of course that's what I want you to do. You're my mate. My only mate. I don't want you ignoring me for the rest of eternity."

Why did the both of them have to make it so hard? One demon lord was enough. Two was too much to handle.

"Besides," Adan said. "Jason isn't being fair."

"Not fair to you," I mumbled. I didn't really know what to think or say or do. Adan's sadness or Jason's wrath. Both were scary.

"Yeah, it's not fair to me. But it's also unfair to you, and the prophecy."

My breath hitched when he mentioned the prophecy. It was the cause of all it. The reason why I was torn away from home. The reason why I was torn between the two amazingly annoying yet charming men.

I gave Adan the hardest stare I could muster. "Tell me about it." I made sure that my voice was low and commanding. Demanding. "Tell me about the prophecy. "

He looked grim. His brows wrinkled and his lips curved down. "You'd freak out."

"I've mastered a decent bit of self-control."

"For bloodlust." He rolled his eyes. "I'd say that your emotions are as predictable as the weather."

I narrowed my eyes at him. "Not funny Adan." I wanted my answers. And I was going to get them tonight. "What is the prophecy? Tell. Now."

"You're not ready."

"I think that I should be able to decide that for myself."

"I don't want to be hanged."

"I'm not capable of hanging you."

"I'll see you at school." Adan turned to leave the room.

But I wasn't going to let him off that easily. Not even with his slimy excuses.

"Wait," I said. "What about a bargain?" I licked my lips nervously. My bargaining power was the size of a rice grain.

"You don't have anything to offer."

"Blood?" _That is somewhat demon currency._

Adan balked at my offer. "Don't be ridiculous." His lips parted slightly.

I smirked. Judging by the way his cocky attitude disappeared, blood was definitely a good offer. "Take as much as you want."

"You're willing?" I could almost see him salivating. His eyes clouded with want and hunger.

"Only if you tell me what you've been hiding from me all this time."

A low humming sound emitted from his chest. A growl. It made my stomach churn. He wanted me. My blood. It was sick, yet it made my heart beat faster with excitement.

"How long will this agreement last?" he asked, inching closer. His fangs stuck out- two pointy pearly white tips.

I chewed my lower lip, not sure how to answer. A month? A day? Forever? Forever was the stupid answer. He would be able to feed from me- to treat me like food- for the rest of our lives, which meant over a thousand years since we were demons. I sat still, silently thinking about my answer.

Adan broke my contemplation with a voice that was guttural and low. "I wouldn't like to stop once I've got a taste."

"Then as long as you want." _Great, so much for it being the stupid choice._I mentally smacked myself on the head. Though the last time he bit me, it wasn't bad. In fact it was... sensual. Almost amazing. Well, until I fainted of course. But I'd rather ignore the gory bad bits.

"You sure?"

"Well no." Definitely not sure. "Maybe like a month or -"

"Too late. We have a deal."

That hit a nerve. I hadn't even confirmed our agreement yet and he went ahead to finalize it.

I tried to protest but then he said, "I'll tell you about the prophecy." And it at once calmed me. The prophecy. I wanted to know about it ever since I was kidnapped.

"Out with it," I said, eager and impatient.

"You won't like it." He flashed a look of doubt.

"I want to hear it."

Adan took in a deep breath, preparing himself. He recited a poem in a hypnotic voice.

"1st of January on a full moon,

the deciding fate will bloom,

from a mix of two worlds.

Her blood is the giver of life,

to all monsters alike,

thus danger strikes.

She will belong, be torn, between

two makers, black and white.

All can only hope that she

does not see with blind sight.

When time is due,

moon blue, heart true,

she takes sides in the rife.

Earth and her will be engulfed by the night;

empty, cold, dead.

Or let free by shining light."

Poetry had never been my strong point in literature. "I don't get it," I said. The only thing I understood was the choice I had between darkness and light, which I assumed was Adan and Jason. Nothing that I didn't already know.

"I've told you the prophecy. Now, our deal." Adan licked his lips. It made my stomach do somersaults.

"It doesn't count if it doesn't make sense to me."

He chuckled.

"Explain or nothing," I demanded. His gaze was transfixed on the nape of my neck. I rested my palm against it, guarding myself.

"Come on. Don't be difficult." There was something so primal in his tone that was hard to ignore. I felt like a caged prey. Trapped with nowhere to go. "Just a taste."

He swept himself behind me. I gasped. His movements were a blur. "Just a taste."

Adan's breath was hot. It warmed my neck, that was found dangerously close to his lips.

I tried to protest. "Explanation first." But who was I kidding? As gross as it sounded, I wanted his fangs buried in.

_Bite. Bite me._

"Make it fast," I said, with a husky voice. It was more lusty than I preferred

He swept his tongue over my neck with an agonizingly slow motion. "I'll take as long as I want." His lips rested on me. They were soft. "I fully intend to enjoy every last drop." He took in a deep breath.

"Can I change my min-"

And then he bit.

At first it was shock. Then pleasure. His heat was felt through the thin fabrics of our clothes. My knees were weak, and I was bloody glad that he had held me tight. Otherwise I'd have slipped off the bed.

"Adan," I gasped out his name. "Oh god." My pupils were going to roll to the back of my eyes. I shut them, and after that the sensation heightened. My breath fell into heavy pants. I could hear his heartbeat. It pulsed together with mine. "Don't stop."

And because he had to go against everything I said, he stopped. His rough tongue swept over my punctured wounds and he slowly lifted his face, smiling cockily yet dreamily at the same time.

That was too fast. I thought he said that he was going to take his time?

I reached for my neck. Nothing. No blood. No wound. All evidence of the incident had gone, except for the small ache that spread through my body.

His face was lit by the most obnoxious grin. "Don't stop? Too bad, you had a limited supply of blood."

The after-pleasure-effects were starting to dissipate, my clear head returning, along with a light tingling in my neck and a slight dizziness.

"That wasn't me talking," I said, embarrassed.

"Sure."

"Oh shut up. Just..." I fidgeted, and shifted away from him. "Explanation."

And his obnoxious grin was swept away from his face, replaced by an annoyed look. "I don't understand why you want to know so bad."

"I fulfilled my end of the bargain. So now you have to fulfill yours."

"I'll be coming back for more." He winked at me and swept a thumb over his lower lip. "Delicious."

I sighed. "And this is why I hate you."

He replied me with an exasperated sigh of his too. "Fine."

I moved myself away and sat next to him, not wanting be on his lap. It was an odd position to listen to an ancient prophecy in.

"You'll be our 'deciding fate'. Which means that you get to end the war between me and Jason," he started explaining.

"Wait a minute. Jason and you are at a war?"

He gave me an are-you-serious look. "Isn't it obvious?"

"I just thought you guys hated each other."

"We do. And that's why we're at war. To gain to other person's territory. Unfortunately, we've been in a stalemate forever."

"Oh."

"And you get to end our stalemate. By choosing one of us to love."

"What?" I shouted. I was the solution to a millennium long war. Great.

"Well according to that prophecy the person you pick wins. I don't know how, or why. But apparently so."

My heart was being slowly pulled out of my chest. They were being nice to me because they could get me on their side to win a war? Not because they loved me? A giant hammer was hitting me over and over again.

"It also mentions that you had to be born on a full moon," he continued. "On the 1st of January and a half-blood. Long story cut short. We found you the day you were born. A demon registry. Tons of administrative work."

I nodded slowly at his words and held the tears back. I was absolutely raging inside. I needed to burn the whole town down. Jane the outcast. Never had any real friends-or boyfriends- and never will. Trust shouldn't be given away so easily.

Adan didn't seem to notice my distress, because he kept talking anyway. Or perhaps he didn't care. "We've been watching you ever since, and apparently Jason decided to strike first so I retaliated."

"What?" I said, completely appalled. Striking? Retaliation? I was part of some kind of battle plan. Worse still. I've been watched by creepy demons ever since I was a baby. I was fighting an incredibly strong urge to prevent myself from kicking Adan out of the room by his bum.

"Yeah." He shrugged. "Sorry about that but we simply couldn't let you out of our sight. It talked about impending danger. That your blood could make other monsters stronger. So they'd hunt for it. But it's only been recently that it's been so strong. I think it's really a cause for concern now."

Nothing could surprise me anymore. My future had been foretold to be a giant pot of mess.

"Well... I'm not sure that I should say this to you..." he trailed off, scratching the back of his head, uncertainty painted all over him.

"Just tell it to me." _It's already as bad as it gets._

"Here goes." He crossed his fingers. "This is the last part. I hate to think about it."

"Spill it."

"Choosing either of us will have... consequences."

"Like?"

The words rushed off his lips, as he tried to rid of them as quickly as possible.

"Well for one." Adan made a pained face. "You'll die if you choose darkness, and so will the rest of the world."


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17: Best Friend**

I couldn't comprehend what he was saying.

A headache was starting to build up. This was all too overwhelming. "What do you mean I'll die?"

"It means that. You'll die," Adan said, shrugging. "Darkness could be either of us."

I mouthed an 'oh my god'. Unbelievable. They were hiding this from me all this while. Doing mind juju in my brain. Were my thoughts even still my thoughts? I was confused enough as it was- I didn't need this stupid prophecy to clog my head up any further.

Adan wrapped a hand around my shoulder. I gnashed my teeth against each other. I was probably seething like a chimney. "Get out," I said.

"What? You were to one that wanted to hear the prophecy."

"GET OUT!" They played with my emotions and used me for their selfish purposes. The both of them were unforgivable. "Burn in hell."

"You're on your period."

Did he just say that? "And you're a dick."

He squinted his eyes, inspecting my face. "Yep, definitely PMS."

I grabbed his collar and pulled hard, straining his neck down and bringing his face closer to mine. I was obviously on the verge of a rampage, glaring and being absolutely unappeasable. "I don't want to talk to you, or Jason, or any other demon or pixie or vampire or werewolf for that matter. I want to talk to humans. Mortal normal beings that don't go around blasting asses and sucking blood. So get the hell out of my room before I smash your face."

Adan seemed to shrink. "Wow you have it bad." His pitch rose a few notches. I narrowed my eyes at him. He gingerly licked his lips and stared at me blankly. "Okay. I'll leave."

Victory. I was secretly very pleased with myself, and did a happy dance in my head. "Good," I said matter-of-factly. I sat on my bed and felt the soft cotton mattress sink down. "Now get-" _out. _As I blinked, he sped away, disappearing right before my eyes.

Jason sat behind me again, like before. We hadn't said a word to each other. I didn't know whether it was because he read my thoughts and found out about what happened with Adan last night, or that it was because I was pissed. Really pissed. Ten times more pissed than I'd be if my dad just told me he was gay.

Well whatever. I didn't want to talk to him anyway.

School felt stupid. Why were we even in school? Demons didn't go to school. They were too busy spreading their evil plans around-not that I was evil. Those two definitely were. Probably.

So there I was in class with a bunch of dumb judgmental teenagers and an ancient demon lord sitting right behind me. Perfect. The fact that he could have been 'darkness' and had the potential to lead me to my death didn't help either.

I needed a chill pill.

"Looks like someone got plastic surgery," an obnoxious familiar voice said. Kayla sashayed past me toward a bunch of giggly girls, or sluts as I preferred to call them. Their collars hung too low and skirts too high.

I picked up her gossip with my sensitive ears. "So maybe that's why shes been missing for so long. Must have had bad self-esteem. It's understandable. Have you seen her previous face? At least it isn't so painful to look at now." The slut group started to chortle in unison. "Not that my eyes don't still sting when I look at her of course."

Kayla was lucky that I didn't break off her arm. Bitch.

I felt a small hand rest on my shoulder. "Don't listen to them they're just jealous."

"Yeah, that's what I always tell myself. They're so ugly that they're in self-denial," I answered. Gosh. How could people be so annoying?

"That's the spirit."

I paused; then spun my head around. A curvaceous red-head stood there, beautiful and smiling.

"Hollie!"

She laughed. "That's me." I haven't seen her in such a long time. I kind of resented her for not being with me in Adan's city. Her support would have really helped.

"I missed you," I said, as she pulled me into a friendly hug. "Where were you all along?"

"I missed you too. I was taking care of Angie. I wasn't going to bring a little girl to that monstrous place." She made a disgusted face.

Angie. My thoughts about her had been buried amidst all the chaos. I felt remorseful for not thinking about her enough. And her dad. Oh god her dad. A sick feeling churned in my gut. I had killed him. All this while I've been trying to postpone thinking about the memory but being reminded of Angie made it resurface.

My shoulders drooped down. "How's Angie?" I asked solemnly.

"She's fine," Hollie said. That was good to hear. "Last night she wasn't scared of Mojo Jojo."

"She's scared of the Powerpuff Girls?"

"Yep."

Wow. She _was _traumatized pretty badly. Who was I kidding? Her father's throat was torn off right in front of her.

I felt like my brain was just hit by a truck. "That's pretty bad."

Hollie gave me a reassuring laugh. "Hey don't worry about it. Angie is coping really well. I got her."

"Thanks," I replied, smiling. It was good to have her back. Hollie was awesome, trustworthy and reliable, unlike a couple of guys I knew.

"So what's going on with you and them two? I've only seen them moping around since I got back."

I wanted them to mope. They deserved to feel bad after what they've done.

I shrugged. "They didn't tell me that they were using me all along. So now I'm not talking to either of them."

"Using you?"

"The prophecy."

We were both discussing this in front of Jason, whom I treated as a transparent sheet of glass. I could care less about what he thought. Okay, not completely. I glanced back at him but he looked just fine. So he didn't bother about me either. Good. Now we were on agreeable terms.

Hollie's mouth formed an 'o' and her eyebrows rose as she showed me her comprehension. "You found out? I knew that they shouldn't have kept it from you." They definitely shouldn't have. Now I wasn't going to talk to either of them for the rest of eternity-or choose a mate-if I could restrain myself from doing so.

"You can't keep this up forever," she said.

"Yes I can."

Hollie tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. "They're your mates for goodness sakes."

Enough with the talk about mates. If mates were born to be such incredibly jerk-like liars then I didn't want any. "So?" I rolled my eyes.

"It means that you're fated to be with either of them."

"And?"

"You can't defy fate."

"Yes I can," I said stubbornly. No stupid prophecy was going to dictate what I could or couldn't do. Who did that dumb witch think she was anyway?

"No you can't."

I heaved out a loud tired sigh and showed Hollie a don't-start-an-argument-with-me look. "Let's not talk about this."

She smiled, looking relieved that she could end our little spat. "We're going to have to discuss it sooner or later you know," she said playfully and nudged me on my shoulder. It tugged at my nerves a bit but only for a split second. It was easy to set a light-hearted mood when Hollie was around.

"Maybe two centuries later."

"Sure why not?" She smiled. "We demons have time. Unless of course, there's a blue moon that comes out."

Blue moon? That was new, but ironically somewhat familiar at the same time. It was in the poem that Adan recited yesterday.

I shot Hollie a quizzical look. "What about that?"

"The prophecy said that you'd pick your guy when the next blue moon comes out. Nobody knows when." Oh so that's what it was.

I wrinkled my brows. I didn't like that a moon decided when I chose my life partner. Well whatever. Blue moons only came once every thousand years anyway. That's how the saying came about right? Demons might be exterminated by then and I'd have lived my life to the fullest. Though I did shudder at the thought of being brutally wiped out. Curse my imagination.

I showed Hollie a thoughtful face. "I see."

"Glad you do," Hollie said as she lifted herself onto my table and sat on it. Mrs. Bailey was really late for class. "Now tell me all about this place called 'high school'. I've never been to one before."

I raised a finger and was about to ask 'why?' when I remembered that it was because of her background, proving my observation that demons didn't need to go to school right. "It's a pretty terrible place. You should be glad that you don't have to attend it."

"Really," Hollie said inquisitively.

I nodded my head gravely. "Yep. People spread gossip everywhere and they're all so... superficial. I feel like school makes you dumber instead of raising your intelligence." It didn't help that my popularity was worse than the average greek either.

"Sounds fun." Her tone was sarcastic. "You don't have to attend if you don't want to."

"How?" I asked a little faster than I should have. I really hated this place.

"Option one." She gestured a number one with her thumb. "You can leave this place with me or Adan or Jason and you'd never have to see this shabby town again."

"Ugh." I made a grossed-out face. "I don't want to see them now, not to mention live with them." I waved a dismissive hand towards Jason that was behind me. At that moment he lifted himself off his seat and stomped out of the classroom, bumping into Mrs. Bailey along his way. The teacher tried to block his way, moving herself in front of him each time he tried to sidestep. He pushed past her with annoyance. Poor teacher. Her face was flustered as she attempted to call Jason back, but he was already out the front door before she could stop him.

The class fell silent for a moment, shocked at Jason's misbehavior. In less than half a minute the chatter continued.

"Looks like someone's throwing a tantrum," I mumbled, secretly glad that I managed to piss him off like that. I won Adan last night and now Jason. My pissed-off mode was on a roll. I mentally pumped my fist into the air. "So what's option two?"

Hollie didn't react to Jason's actions at all. He probably did this many times over the centuries. "You can _compel _your mother," she said with a hushed voice. "It's easy. Just tell her you don't want to come to school."

I slammed my hand on the empty space of table that was next to Hollie's bosom."That's wrong!"

She dipped down from the desk. I had expected her to walk to the empty seat that was right across the room, but she flopped her bag onto the desk behind me and took the Jason's old spot.

"It's just something to make out lives more convenient," she whispered.

I flashed Hollie a worried are-you-mad glance. "You can't compel my mother!" The last night was a mistake. I didn't want to repeat that again.

"Too late," she quipped, and my heart sank. What did she make my mother do? I wanted to ask her but the lesson had started. I made a mental note to ask her about it later.

Mrs Bailey greeted us and wrote numerical formulas onto the board. I chewed my lip, feeling all jumpy from what Hollie had done. It was wrong to take away my mother's free will. I couldn't believe that she did that without telling me-though she most probably had a good excuse. Mrs. Bailey sounded like a cow that couldn't stop 'moo-ing'. I shelved the issue about my mother for awhile, and focused on giving myself reasons why I shouldn't hate school. It was ridiculously hard.

Hollie said that I'd be able to find out what she did to my mom when I got home. Even though I was dying to know what happened, I decided to patiently wait. Hollie didn't even budge after all my griping.

The bubbly red-head demon swung her caramel-colored tote bag onto her shoulder. "Well that was a fun day!" She did a short twirl on the ball of her foot after stepping out of the school gates. I snorted. Sure it was fun for her. She was ever the socialite. Students started to crowd around her during lunch, blatantly ignoring my presence and talking to just her. But she never made me feel like dust stuck on a window; Hollie always made sure to try and add me into her conversations-unsuccessfully of course. I suppose that school was pretty fun when you're popular.

She swept her hair aside and gleamed at me. "I don't understand why you say that this place is horrible."

I gave her a faint smile. At least she was happy. "It's pretty okay when you're around."

"I guess they can be pretty mean." Hollie rubbed her chin and pretended to ponder over something. "But oh well, we're not going to stay here for long anyway."

My mother was going to give me a lift home from school as usual, but Hollie told me that she had it settled-most likely with her mind voodoo again. I sighed. She led me along and came to a stop in front of a shiny hot pink car that stood out from the rest. I tried not to gasp. The last thing I needed was to become a larger sore thumb in school. A cute hot pink conspicuous car was totally not going to help.

Hollie skipped over and patted the hood of the vehicle. "I just got it yesterday! Don't you love it?"

I bit my lower lip and thought of things to say that wouldn't hurt her feelings. "It's nice. But don't you think it's a little too... pink?"

She laughed off my response. "Don't worry. Nothing is ever too pink."

I rubbed the back of my neck, trying to find a way to convey by doubts. "It's a bit too standout-ish."

"Are you kidding?" The car went 'beep' and Hollie pulled open its door. "It's such a cute little tiny thing. Nobody will notice."

"If you say so," I murmured. She got into the car and I hesitated for a moment, hoping that I still had time to be disassociated from its pinkness.

"What are you waiting for?" Hollie called. I drew in a deep breath and accepted my defeat, pulling myself lazily into the car seat. She grinned at me and started her new baby up before driving us home. I seriously hoped that my mom was still my mom.


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18: Danger**

"So you left her here?" I asked. Angie was sitting next to the dining table, having snacks with my mother. It was quite a sight-the relative of my murder victim eating casually with the woman that raised me. When we stepped into the living room, Angie flashed Hollie a toothless grin and excitedly ran up to her.

Hollie bent down and squeezed Angie's cheeks. "How was your day?"

Angie scrunched up her nose, and then giggled when my friend released her chubby flesh. "Mrs. Gressner took me to watch a movie, we just got back."

Hollie beamed at her. "Did you enjoy the movie?"

"Yeps! It was about a superhero dog. It beat up all the bad guys." The girl pushed herself from Hollie's arms and pretended to punch the villains. It looked like she was trying to swat imaginary flies with her fists. I tried to stifle a laugh. Hollie had managed her very well. It eased my worries a lot.

The ancient demon ruffled Angie's hair and chuckled. "Seems like you had a lot of fun."

The little girl slackened her posture and pouted. "I wished you were there with us though."

"I'm sorry." Hollie heaved the girl up into her arms and carried her. Angie was probably felt as light as a feather, considering that Hollie had super strength and all. "I'll watch another movie with you this weekend how about that?"

Angie nodded her head vigorously. "Yes!"

I was simply a bystander watching the both of them. Hollie had done such a great job cheering Angie up. Nobody would have guessed that Angie had just lost her father. She was a bundle of joy. One look at the both of them and anybody would have thought that they were sisters. I resented myself for not being the one to be there for Angie, but I never could have done better than Hollie.

I glanced at my mother. She looked normal. No signs of insanity yet. What had Hollie compelled her to do?

"Who is she?" Angie asked, eyeing me warily across Hollie's shoulder. The girl had finally noticed my presence. She sounded very hostile. Her personality underwent a complete change.

Hollie patted her head. "She's Evelyn, you've met her before right?"

"I'm called Jane around here," I corrected her. It was too confusing to be called two different names all the time. I didn't know why Adan and Hollie couldn't just accept that I wanted to be called 'Jane'. Perhaps my biological father called me by 'Evelyn' too much.

The little girl gasped. Her face paled as she stared at me with a horrified expression. "Evelyn?" She looked away. "H-h-hello," she whimpered, and tightened her hold on Hollie. My heart sank. Angie was terrified. I wondered if it was because she knew what I truly was, but I dismissed the thought at once. There was no way that she could possibly find out without suspecting Hollie as well.

The room fell silent. I shifted the my weight from one foot to another and pressed my clammy hands together. It was awkward. "So... umm.." I said, trying to remove the tension in the air. "Where are you guys staying tonight? If you want I can ask my mom if you can stay here."

Hollie laughed. "Oh that won't be necessary, she's already allowed us to." That was odd. My mother was nice but she didn't warm up to complete strangers that easily. She might have been a ditz but she wasn't that stupid.

I shot her a questioning look. "You asked?" Come to think of it, Angie and Hollie were already welcomed into my house. I never remembered telling my mother that they were my friends. And she never let anybody that claimed to be my friend into the house without confirming it with me first. Not that it happened before. In fact, it was more likely to raise suspicion than anything else-my mother never believed me to have any friends.

Hollie scratched her chin with her forefinger. "I think you know what I did." She winked at me and smiled. I paused and thought about what she meant. Then, it dawned on me. The demon had compelled my mother to let them stay.

"You can't just do that!" I shouted, slightly maddened. Angie shut her eyes and pressed herself closer to Hollie. I pursed my lips. "You didn't have to do that." I lowered my voice, not wanting to scare Angie again. "I could have just asked her."

The demon shrugged it off. "It's more convenient that way. Besides, I needed some place to put Angie for the day. You weren't here when I arrived this morning." I must have already left for school. Judging by the time she arrived to class, Hollie had just narrowly missed me.

I crossed my arms and gave Hollie a stern look. "You can't just do mind tricks on people."

"It's easier that way."

"You didn't have to do it to my mom."

"Shush, it's fine," she said, waving off my argument. "It not harmful. Just a bit of memory loss that's all." Was this going to raise my mother's chances of dementia? I drew a deep breath and pinched my nose. This was adding to my pile of worries. Hollie moved toward the stairs. "She's less likely to ask questions this way. We can stay as long as we want."

"Whatever you say," I grumbled, too tired to argue. "Just don't do it again."

"I can't promise that."

"Hollie!"

She puffed up her cheeks, and then let out a deep breath. "Fine. I'll try my best not to."

"Try?" I asked, raising a brow.

She shrugged with one shoulder. "Sometimes necessity calls for such things."

And many people tended to overestimate things as necessities. I gave up. Trying to convince a thousand year old demon to stop using her powers was like trying to stop a smoker from smoking.

I followed her up to my room. I supposed that she was bunking in with me during her time here. We didn't have any spare rooms. My bed was rather small, it could only fit two adults at most. And even then, they'd have to sleep very uncomfortably. Hollie and Angie could share my bed, and I'd use the mattress that was stored in the dusty garage. It probably had spider webs in it by now. Some cleaning would fix it up real quick.

Why couldn't she just hijack somebody else's house instead?

I was ashamed to show them the chaos that my room was in. My junk strewn all over the place. The surface of my table was barely visible-piles of trinkets and paper covered it. Hollie surveyed my living space. She didn't show any signs of disapproval, which consoled me slightly.

A crumpled dress splayed right across the door, blocking our way. I kicked it aside. "Welcome." I faked an uneasy laugh. "Sorry for the mess."

Hollie placed Angie down. "I've seen worse," she said jokingly.

"Are we staying here?" Angie asked Hollie meekly. Disgust was apparent on her face. I cringed. Hollie should've warned me about their arrival. Then I'd be able to clear up my room and save myself the embarrassment.

I couldn't stand the mental torture anymore. "Why don't you go help my mom with dinner? I need to pack." I needed to get them out of here so that they'd stop witnessing this horrendous display of uncleanliness.

"Sure," Hollie said. She smiled at me. She probably sensed my worry. "Let's go, Angie." The little girl placed her hand into Hollie's and together they strode off. The door closed behind me and I faced my worse nightmare.

I had to battle the garbage.

My closet was almost half empty, since the rest of my clothes were on the floor. Some of them were there since two months ago. The paper that were on my table haven't been cleared since last year, and my trashcan hadn't been cleared since who knows when. Tissue paper and snack wrappers flooded from it, spilling over from its sides. How in the world did I allow my room to get to this state?

I stood there and assessed the situation. Thoughts of procrastination surfaced, but with guests staying over, procrastination wasn't a feasible option. I thought about starting with the simpler things first-dump the contents of the trashcan and pick up the clothes to throw them into the laundry bin (I was probably going to have to make two trips for that). The hard part was organizing my desk. And cleaning the underside of my bed. Oh no. God knows what was in there. I shuddered.

I groaned and went downstairs to pick up my supplies: ten trash bags and a ton of detergent. Plus gloves. I definitely needed gloves to clear what was below my bed.

I sighed. Time to pull up my socks-all the way up to my waist-and face the dirty music.

Tonight, I was going to sleep in a five-star hotel room. My room was sparkling. It was like the god of neatness came over and swept the place with his magic.

Surprisingly, I had a talent for tidying up places.

I should've gotten a nobel prize considering the trauma I had gone through. I found mould-covered something beneath my bed. I couldn't make out what it was. As if that wasn't enough, a cockroach the size of my thumb crawled out from under there. I whacked the pest with great enthusiasm, releasing my pent up frustration. The floor was scarred with a small crack in the process-I had forgotten my own strength. It looked hideous, and thus I moved the bean bag over to cover it.

I let loose the hair that I pinned up previously. Cleaning the room had taken me three whole hours. It was six and the sun had already set. I imagined my back aching. It would've been aching if I were still human. Even though my back was perfectly fine, my mind was still mentally tired, unstable even. Thank heavens I was done. It felt like I was running a marathon.

The smell of dinner wafted from the kitchen. It was almost done.

"Jane dear! Dinner is ready!" my mom called from the kitchen. My stomach growled. I was starving, although not for the dinner that they prepared. I needed blood.

I licked my lips. My appetite was thoroughly whetted just with the thought of it. I wondered if Hollie knew where to get blood. I definitely wasn't keen on going hunting, since it was something I never tried before, and I preferred to keep it that way.

"Okay!" I called back. Where was I supposed to get blood?

I took one long look at my work of perfection before spinning myself around to exit the room. I would make a pretty good housewife. Look at my work of art! Magnifique. Although it would be a million years later before I chose to be a housewife. I was a strong, independent and responsible twentieth century female teenager. At least, that was what I liked to think.

I placed my hand on my door knob and twisted it.

"Yessss," a voice hissed behind me. I stilled.

It sounded demonic and coarse, as if the speaker had a very bad sore throat and was trying to speak like a creepo at the same time. I spun my head around.

It wasn't human. "Weee havee founndd shheee," the thing said. A glob of black liquid swayed before me. It lacked any form whatsoever, yet those words were said by it. "Coommee with ussss." The only things it had with a hint of human-though barely-were its eyes. Red, beady, glowing eyes.

"Coommee with ussss," it hissed again. Fear crept into my guts. The slush monster continued to move back and forth, like it was a drunk blob of black, if that was even possible.

Was this what Adan meant by danger?

"Massstterr waantssss to ssseee you."

I glanced at the floor. Mr. Slush was leaving a bunch of slimy black goo wherever it touched. The audacity! I had just cleaned my room and made it spick and span. This was supposed to be my five-star hotel luxury room tonight, even if it'd most probably get messed up again tomorrow.

The ooze inched closer like an unstable wave, leaving a trail behind it. Frustration flew into my arms. Now I had to clean my room again. Preposterous.

I assumed that it wouldn't be able to move faster than a snail. I was wrong. "COME!" The ooze shouted. The fact that it could speak still didn't click with my brain. It threw itself across the room, splattering grime across my once-clean pristine white walls. The monster opened its previously non-existent mouth, releasing a foul stench that made it hard to breathe.

I really didn't want to have black stuff all over me.

I shut my eyes and tightened my jaw tight, unsuccessfully trying to ready myself for the impending messy and slimy doom.

A large groan sounded. "Lisssteeennn," the thing said.

My eyes opened slowly. I glanced down. My feet were no longer standing on my unmarred wooden floor. Black sticky goo stained my shoes. I had moved to the other side of the room. How? No idea.

I looked behind me and saw the ooze. It was no longer 'standing' tall and 5 feet tall, but splattered across my floor, like a weak mess that desperately needed to be mopped up. "Massterr wantssss youu!"

It sprung up and towered to the ceiling, sticking black matter on it as it went. The ceiling! How the hell was I supposed to clean that up later? My room was now just a gooey mess. There went all my hard work. I let out an internal scream of frustration.

"That's as far you go you little shit," I said through gritted teeth. I wouldn't be surprised if I were admitted into the hospital the next day for popped veins.

It roared, or screeched, and moved itself towards me again.

Fire. I needed it really badly right now, and yet nothing was happening, not even a slight tinge of the burning sensation that normally crept up to my hand. "Comeeoncomeeonn..." The thing was disgusting-it had to be burned. I tried snapping my fingers together. Not even a spark. "Damn it!"

"Comeeee!" the thing's voice raised around the room like an ear-piercing crescendo. It leapt towards me.

Shit. My eyes widened and my jaw quivered-I was more than afraid of being covered with that black slime.

"No." I heard my own voice become subconsciously released from my lips. It was no more than a whisper, though it remained definite and strong. "Stop destroying my room." And in that instant, I felt the hot sensation rush into my fingers. I released as fast as I could, and a large burst of flame pumped from my fists, onto the floor, lighting up the black substance that sprayed over the ground.

Apparently, black slimes were highly inflammable. The fire spread itself like it was fueled by kerosene, rushing across the floor and heating up the whole room.

The monster screamed in agony; its screams were still too high-pitched but at least they reassured me that it was dying and wouldn't annoy me in the future. "Nooooo! Youuu wwilll be ssoorryy!" He let out that atypical sentence that villains never failed to utter during their last breath.

I rolled my eyes. "Just go to hell."

I strutted to my bed with a triumphant ego and plonked myself onto the bed. I walked across the orange-yellow flames with ease. They belonged to me, hence they couldn't harm me. The monster's screeching died down into soft, helpless whimpers. Finally, some peace.

Everything was over now-or so I thought.

When I opened my eyes I realized that the flames were still burning; I didn't notice them at first because I couldn't feel their heat. They were starting to light up my bed and I was beginning to hear it creak and subside.

The whole house was about to be burned down.

Bloody hell. What else was there for me to do but panic? "Hollie!"


	19. Chapter 19

**Chapter 19: Dropping By**

_Adan_

I set my glass of blood on the table. "Another." And then, a line cracked through the glass. The strength I used was an ounce too much.

The young female bartender scurried over and swiped the glass away swiftly. "Yes Lord." Her footsteps were quick and filled with haste. I could be quite scary when mad-especially when I was almost drunk on blood at the same time.

Yes, demons could get drunk on blood, though my tolerance was higher than everybody else. I needed a lot of it to get me going. Even now after countless glasses, the warmth in my ears were only beginning to set in.

My bartender was taking too long to return. What took her so long? I let out a sound of annoyance and tapped my fingers on the bar top. Today was definitely not the right day to get me annoyed.

The female stumbled over with an anxious face. "I'm sorry My Lord. We're..." She bit her lip and looked at the crowd behind me, trying to avert my eyes.

"Out with it."

"We're out of blood sir."

It was easy to tell from her face that she was lying. She blinked too many times. Plus, her pulse quickened-the lying pulse. People didn't fool me so easily-I did have millenniums of experience after all.

I scoffed. "Well, go get more somewhere else."

Her heart skipped a few beats. Fear was practically crawling out of her skin. "But My Lord, our supplies aren't coming until next Tuesday." The girl's face was a ghostly white.

Another lie. I guessed that she was a young, not to mention idiotic, vampire. Even fifty year old vampires knew how to tell classier lies. "You're saying that they're going to close this bar down until next Tuesday?"

"Um... No. Boss said that we're just going to serve other drinks for now," she said, her voice lowered and weak.

I gave her hair a second glance. She was a redhead. I fully expected her to be blonde. The only reason why creatures came to this bar was the blood. I knew her boss, and he wasn't so stupid.

I glared at her, then slammed my hand onto the table. "TELL ME THE TRUTH!" The impudence of this little dumbass. I've killed for much less. She lied to me. Twice.

She froze into place. I continued glaring at her. Then, she just crumpled and fell to the ground. "Forgive me My Lord!" I could hear her sobbing over the booming music-not because she sobbed that loudly; I just had good ears.

Word vomit was now spilling out of her mouth. "I didn't mean to Lord, but boss asked me to stop you from drinking somehow, he said that you were drinking too much, and that our supplies weren't going to last and and... I'm sorry My Lord, please forgive me. I'll... I'll... "

They always got like this-all panicky and trying to explain themselves before they die. I wasn't going to kill her though. It wasn't her fault but that old chap's. And I wasn't going to kill that old chap because I actually liked him.

But I still wanted to punish her for being so dumb.

"Stand," I said.

"Yes My Lord." She clamored to her feet quickly, afraid that I would chop off her head before she could say another word. When she got up, her posture was straight like a plank of wood. "I'll do anything My Lord."

"Shut up." My fist met her jaw, and she flew against the shelf of alcohol that was behind her-it was for decorative purposes, barely anybody wanted the alcohol here. The sound of glass breaking reverberated through the air and the strong odor of alcohol mixed with vampire blood permeated the room.

The young vampire let out a groan, though I was sure that I didn't hurt her much, it was just a light punch-by my standards.

I wiped the back of my hand on my pair of jeans. "You talk way too much." I turned on my heels towards the exit. The bar was almost empty now, except for a few that were frozen like ice. The creatures left pretty hurriedly when I got mad.

It was that Evelyn's fault. It was just a prophecy... I wasn't actually using her. I actually liked her-she was spunky, sweet, pretty, adorab-

Wait. I shouldn't be thinking about those things. I was supposed to be mad!

I, the ancient demon lord that had everybody else licking from the palm of his hand, was like a loser obedient dog next to her. I even wrote a letter and decorated it with a cute, pink heart-shaped sticker. I swept my tired hands across the sides of my face. Stupid stupid stupid...

Would she change her mind after reading the letter?

I sighed. Why did I have to listen to all her orders anyway? She said to stay away, but I didn't actually have to do it. She was my mate so I could do whatever I want... right? I didn't want to be a pet dog licking off the palm of her hand.

That was it. I had to visit. My dignity was at stake.

"Hollie!" a girl screamed. It was Evelyn. She sounded flustered and it made me worry. Was she attacked? Hollie should have been there to protect her. "Hollie!" she shouted again.

I leapt to the window of her room, and it was hot. Like literally, flaming hot.

I frowned. "What the hell just happened over here?"

She turned around and her eyes met mine. She looked so relieved I almost thought that she would cry. "Adan! Oh my god, please help me."

"Yeah yeah," I said. I flicked my fingers together and expected the flames to dissipate just like that.

But they didn't.

What? A fire this small should go off like a light, but it barely even flinched. I clicked my fingers another few more times, each time harder than the last.

Still, it didn't work.

Evelyn was starting to look more flustered. "Adan?"

"It's not working."

She stared at me like I had a pimple the size of a pumpkin on my face. "Why?"

I wanted to know why too. "I don't know!"

Her expression was as if I owed her a million dollars. "Well, do something."

"Okay okay." I closed my eyes and tried to focus, imagining the fire go down like there was desert rain pouring over it. When my eyelids lifted, I could see my rain gushing over the fire. But her flames still glowed like the sun and danced around the room. I was speechless.

Evelyn was having the most pissed off face in the world. "What the hell are you doing? Now I'm wet!"

I glanced at her. I would've laughed if not for the dire situation, and the fact that my powers weren't working for once. She looked like an angry tiger completely soaked and in the midst of flames. I sighed and turned off my redundant rain.

"I'm sorry," I said, "Something's wrong."

She threw her hands up in frustration and turned away. "Whatever. HOLLIE!"

Right then, Hollie rushed into the room. "What the-"

"Don't ask. Just... FIX IT!" Evelyn said. "Adan's being useless."

Hollie chuckled. "Oh he's just playing with you." The redhead demon closed her eyes and concentrated on her task. A strong rush of wind stirred in the room, blowing the fire out. It was gone in less than a minute.

All that was left was a very black and charred room. All the furniture were simply dust laying on the floor. I could imagine my mate's heart sink to the pits of her stomach.

Her eyes were tearing. "You dick!" She stomped towards me and pushed my chest. "What the hell? Why didn't you put them out quickly?"

I tried to show how sorry I felt through my eyes. "I really couldn't."

"Oh, stop shitting around Adan."

"I'm telling the truth."

Hollie rolled her eyes. "Adan, we all know that you were playing around. But don't you think that you're being a bit mean to Evelyn?"

Why were none of them believing me? I would've helped her as soon as I could. Even though I could get quite grumpy at times, I wasn't so petty as to let fire burn down my mate's house-just because I was slightly disgruntled. "I'm telling you guys, I really tried to put the fire out, but my powers weren't working."

Evelyn had her arms crossed. "I don't believe you." She narrowed her eyes.

"And why the hell not?"

"Well for one, you're a demon lord for god's sakes. You're supposed to be able to do anything. Hollie put the flame out." She pointed her hand towards Hollie.

I sighed. That was logical. "I honestly would've helped, just trust me on this okay?"

"No," she said. Hollie nodded at the same time.

How was I going to get myself out of this mess? "I don't think my powers work on yours."

Her nose flared. "Well that's the biggest load of bullshit I've ever heard. Jason put my flames out."

That was new. "When was this?" I asked.

"Before you kidnapped me. At least he was polite and decided to introduce himself properly first. Kayla had her hair on fire."

Who was Kayla? I wanted to ask but then I decided that I didn't care and there were more important things to worry about. "That was then and this is now. You weren't a full demon then."

She pushed her hair to her back smugly. "I was still your mate."

That was true. "Yeah, but you weren't 'complete'." I gestured the inverted commas with my forefingers. "Now your powers are in full bloom. Well, almost, you just need to learn how to control them."

"Stupid excuse Adan."

I let my shoulders down. This was harder than I thought. Time to act smooth.

I ambled over to Evelyn and grabbed her hand, placing it on my chest. "Feel that?"

"Ew, let me go creep." She tried to pull her hand away but I didn't budge.

"I think I'm in the wrong room," Hollie said nervously before slipping out of the door-it was half burned down however.

I turned my attention back to my mate. "Your emotions are linked to mine, though the link is barely there right now."

"That sounds so cliche and dumb Adan." She looked away. Apparently my face wasn't even deserving of a glance from her at the moment. "You're trying to psycho me into believing you."

I had almost none of her trust. It made me want to cry... or slap her. Or perhaps punching Jason would be a better choice. "Feel it yet?" I asked, with the most soothing voice I could muster. I was true that mates could sometimes feel each others feelings, but it didn't happen very often. It hadn't happened for me and Evelyn yet.

I hoped it would. And at this crucial moment where the trust between the both of us depended heavily on it, I needed it to happen. "Feel it?" I asked hopefully.

Nothing.

She let out a sound of frustration. "You're being a tard. Let me go."

All hope was lost. I reluctantly let her hand go.

"You're the biggest dick I've ever met Adan."

"I'm sorry."

"Look at this!" She flung her arm in a semi-circle shape, referring to her previously not-very-black room. "You should've just been nice and helped. Now where the hell am I supposed to stay?"

"You could just stay at my place," I mumbled. Women were scary when they were angry.

She brushed her hand through her black curls. "Ha Ha. Very funny Adan. I don't even want to be next to you right now."

Ah. That was like an arrow to my heart. The korean dramas I watched normally said to wait for the woman to cool down first. Not that I watched much of them. I just glanced at one. One episode. Then I switched the channel to spongebob. "I'm sorry."

"You ought to be."

"I'll... leave you to chill."

"You think I need to chill?" And immediately, her nostrils flared up again. I didn't like it when she did that. It made her more scary than pretty.

"Well, I'll just leave you alone." Just like a sad dejected puppy, I pulled myself to the opposite direction and dragged myself away.

"Good riddance," she said. Her distaste was obvious in her voice.

"I didn't do it..." I mumbled. I realized that I had almost forgotten something. "Oh yes, and one last thing."

She definitely didn't sound welcoming. "What is it now?"

I pulled out the letter I wrote for her and handed it over. "Here."

"What is it?"

"Just take it," I said, sighing at the same time. "I wrote it sincerely."

She let out a grunt that showed her lack of enthusiasm. "Fine." Her grip on the letter was so weak that it almost slipped out of her fingers. Why didn't fate give me a woman that was more easy to please? I just couldn't believe my lack of luck.

I wanted to see her reaction to the heart-shaped sticker, but she hung the letter next to her with her limp, unenthusiastic arm.

"See ya," she said coldly.

Daggers to my heart. Just daggers. Someone kill me now.

"See ya," I replied.

I jumped out the window. If only the height was able to end my life. But I landed on the black road just like an agile cat would.


	20. Chapter 20

**Chapter 20: Drink**

Adan gracefully leapt out of the window and left me with black dust, charred furniture and a useless letter that didn't mean much at the moment. I glanced at it and saw the large heart-shaped sticker that was roughly slapped onto the envelope—it was easy to tell that Adan wasn't gentle about it because the sticker tilted to one side.

I shoved it in my pocket and assessed the situation. It didn't look salvageable at all. What was I supposed to tell my mother? Well I could just _compel_ her. But it didn't seem appropriate. Adan and Hollie were quite rich right? After all, they had a few thousand years to accumulate wealth and had a huge underground castle.

They could replace my furniture right?

Though it didn't seem right to use their money since I was the one that destroyed my room in the first place.

The empty room made thinking clearer.

The guilt slowly seeped in. It wasn't okay for me to blame Adan, since this mess was my fault, and the blob was due to my annoying birth-prophecy-trouble-thing. I was still mad about Adan for lying to me about the prophecy and for trying to _use_ me, although he couldn't help it that I was his mate, but I decided to apologize the next day for scolding him.

I stroked my temples and walked down the stairs to the living room. The couch looked warm and fluffy. It had velvet suede coverings too—despite being as old as I was. I sighed and lay down on it. It sank nicely. Sleeping there for the night didn't seem that bad.

I pulled out the letter from my pocket and thumbed the sticker. It looked cute.

"Don't worry about your room. Easily fixed." Hollie's voice almost made me jump out from my seat. She was still so quick and silent—I had enhanced hearing too.

I recovered from my shock as fast as I could. "Thanks."

"Maybe what Adan said was right." I looked up and saw Hollie sitting on the rest of the sofa, right above where my toes were. "Maybe his powers don't work on yours because he isn't allowed to harm you."

It did sound logical now hearing it from Hollie's mouth. I was just too angry at Adan to listen to anything he said. Anger does that. It made me drown out all reason.

I shrugged. "Maybe. I'll apologize tomorrow."

A smile crept to Hollie's lips. "And I'll get your room settled tomorrow."

"Hollie you can't, I can't bother you guys any further."

She gave me an amused look and tried to hold back her laughter. "You're troubling us? We're troubling you more than anything else."

Point taken.

"Okay fine then. I'll see that the furniture is settled tomorrow."

When I didn't get a response from her I looked up, and was surprised to see that she was no longer on the couch.

Boy was I glad she was nice. I didn't know what I'd do if she were the enemy and ready to kill me. I wouldn't stand a chance.

I glanced down and stared at the letter that Adan had given me. I didn't want to ruin it, so I carefully teared the sticker from the paper. It was difficult since I had super strength now, but I managed, save for a small ugly tear on the edge of the envelope.

In the envelope was a piece of plain white paper. Nothing fanciful. I unfolded it and saw his handwriting. It was surprisingly incredibly neat and was a beautiful cursive. The strokes were… elegant. No wasted lines. None too long or too short. Almost perfect.

_Dear Evelyn,_

_I don't really know why I'm writing this letter, or whether I should give it to you in the first place. Do you even want me to continue calling you Evelyn? Or would you prefer Jane? I remembered once where you said that you hated me calling you by a name you didn't understand. I'd do that. For you._

_I guess what I really want to say is that… please forgive me. It really sucks waking up at night knowing that you hate me more than anything else in the world. I'd give up anything for you. It's just those stupid emotions that I have to deal with when you have a mate. But now I understand that I have a mate and that I should cherish her._

_I've spent centuries living alone. And now I've finally found you. I know, it sounds cliché. Maybe the reason why it's so cliché is because that's how people really feel like when they find their soul mates. Like they'd do anything for their other half. Like finally, they are complete. Perhaps that is why I decided to write this letter for you; to tell you the feelings that I'm experiencing right now. It feels so dark and empty when your mate has rejected you. I'd never want you to experience that. Though you probably won't have to, since you have both Jason and me to run to…_

_I'm writing out of topic right now. I think I'm rambling._

_Just come back to me Evelyn, or Jane, or whatever you want to be called._

_With love,_

_Adan. _

His spitefulness was evident in the letter. It was comical, in an endearing kind of way. I stroked its creases with my fingers and read the letter over and over again. It made my emotions for Jason sway. But Jason didn't really do anything but get pissed at me after the incident did he?

I was so confused.

"Evelyn?"

A small voice broke me away from my thoughts. I lifted myself up and looked over the couch. It was Angie.

She was holding a cup with a Mickey Mouse cartoon printed on it. Her hands were shivering and it looked like she was going to fall.

I pocketed the letter again and rushed up to her. "Angie? What are you doing up so late? Shouldn't you be with Hollie upstairs?"

"I thought you might like this." She avoided eye contact with me and bit her lip as she talked. It was slightly suspicious, but I assumed that it was simply her being nervous. I was still a stranger to her.

I grabbed the mug from Angie and steadied her. "Thank you."

She glared at the mug, almost as if with murderous intent. "You should drink it."

I laughed. She was acting so weird it was adorable. "Sure." The cup contained a white liquid, although its color looked slightly off. I sniffed it. It didn't smell weird. Angie probably added something into the milk to make it taste 'better'. Little kids liked to invent things.

I smiled sheepishly at her, slightly reluctant to drink it after noticing its color.

"It's to make you feel… better after just now," she said. Tears were starting to well up into her eyes. Was she hurt that I didn't drink her concoction?

I nodded my head. "Thank you, I really appreciate it." And then I quickly poured its contents down my throat. It tasted oddly delicious, almost like vanilla with milk. Whatever the girl put in there, it was tasty.

I turned around and strolled to the coffee table to set the mug down.

When I looked back at Angie, tears were rolling down her eyes. "It's not working," a soft mumble escaped through her lips. What wasn't working? Was she expecting me to jump up for joy after drinking her milk or something?

I tried to comfort her. "It was great. It worked—"

And then I realized what she meant.

The ringing in my ears was so loud that I felt like my brains were about to explode. I held my hands against my ears, trying to stop the loud noise. It made me collapse to the ground. A blurry vision of Angie was all I could make out. I shook my legs and rolled around, like thrashing was to make the pain go away.

But it didn't.

"ADAN!"

It wasn't long before I passed out.


	21. Chapter 21

**Chapter 21: Idiots**

_Jason_

She was tall, blonde, most probably stupid and I was going in for the kill.

Jane had the angst of a teenager—well, she was a teenager so I supposed I could forgive her for that—and she was spreading it all over this love triangle.

To be honest, I was becoming more than sick of it. I hadn't feasted on live prey for more than a month and even though it felt a bit like cheating, I decided that the kick I could get out of it was better than all the drama Jane was giving us.

"What's up?" I crept up behind the girl and laid my hands on her hips. The restaurant was crowded but nobody bothered. It was a shady place—things like that happened all the time.

She gasped and spun around. "Get your hands off—"

I hadn't expected her to react so flustered. Girls in this joint were normally used to this kind of stuff. I laid my hands on a few of them before. They were easy to bring to the back for a quick, hot snack.

Her voice trailed off. "—_me."_

Now that was expected. They always ended up the same way. Except for Jane of course. She was the only woman that was capable of going all mad crazy on me. That was to be fixed.

I smirked at my prey. "What's your name sweet?"

"Jennifer."

I leaned to her ear and whispered in a husky voice. "Want to follow me to the back?"

She took in another sharp breath and tried to push herself away from me. The innocent ones were always the most fun but also the most annoying. My patience for the day had already been used up.

I stared into her eyes. "Follow me to the back," I said in a soft murmur; soft enough so that nobody else in the place could hear me.

She nodded. I held her hand and pulled her along, maneuvering past the chairs and tables. Everything about this felt so wrong. It was the first time it ever felt wrong. I never had second thoughts about feeding from a live human.

I dragged her into the alley through the back of the restaurant. The staff ignored that I went through the back door. They were used to me doing such things; always thinking that I had a thing for their waitresses. Well, their blood tasted sweet.

"Come here." I pushed Jennifer against the wall with more strength than necessary. She winced. Unlucky for her, saying that I was in a bad mood today was an understatement. I grabbed her by her throat and allowed my canines to lengthen.

No need for formalities. I threw my head back before diving in and letting my fangs sink into her neck.

Her rich, metallic-tasting blood gushed into my mouth. I knew that it was a painful experience for the victims—her screaming and begging was enough to confirm that. Not that I cared. Normal people fed on cake when they were depressed or pissed. This was no different.

I lapped my tongue over her punctured wound before lifting my face off from the nape of her neck. "You're not afraid," I said, looking into her eyes again. She returned the same nod that everyone did after being compelled. I quite enjoyed the taste of her blood, although it could never beat Jane's. I wanted seconds for the night.

Jennifer's lips were slightly too pouty, or too full. I couldn't decide. It was a bit crooked to the left. No other lip could be better than Jane's. I didn't want to do what I did next, but the thought of Jane clouded my senses, and my head dipped down…

…and I kissed her, imagining her to be my mate. She returned my kiss with vigor, wrapping her arms around the back of my neck and pushing her hips against mine.

"Jane," I moaned into the kiss. Her mouth felt wrong—slightly too sultry, or her tongue a bit too rough. But I didn't care. I was too mad at Jane to care.

And yet, I wanted her so badly that'd kiss another girl, only to think about her.

I nipped her bottom lip softly with a sharp canine and it bled, allowing me to taste her coppery blood again. It made up for the fact that she wasn't perfect enough. "Jane," I whispered again.

I missed her.

And then I realized that I was being a total jackass. I pushed away myself from Jennifer—her hair was disheveled and her skirt hitched too high. What the hell had I done? This was stupid. I get into a fight with a soul mate that I had been searching for since who knew when, and soon after that I'm cheating on her?

I mentally smacked myself.

If Adan ever got a hold of this he would totally beat my ass—

A loud ringtone echoed through the alley. I took out my phone from my jacket and glanced at the screen. It was Hollie.

I pushed the green button. "What?"

"I have trouble," she said.

"Is this about Jane?" I honestly hoped that she didn't run off to do something stupid. I was sure that nothing else could make my day worse but that definitely would. I took a quick look at Jennifer. She looked bored.

Hollie sighed. "She's missing."

"Missing? Have you tried to look for her?"

"She was drinking something Angie gave her. It smells of teleportation mix."

"WHAT?" Teleportation mix. Also known as a potion in the demon world. Witches spelled them to do bad deeds—normally to kidnap people. It worked, but with terrible side effects. "I'm coming over right now. Have you told Adan?"

"He's coming over right now too."

Damn it. I didn't like it when he got involved in issues that had to deal with Jane. Heck, I didn't like it when he got involved in anything. I'd prefer it if he grew old and stopped sticking or poking his nosy little fingers into any situation that involved anything at all.

I made a disgusted face. "Got it. I'll be over in a bit."

I hung up the call and turned my attention to sweet Jennifer. "Looks like there's no second serving today babe. Your luck is out."

She showed me a face that said 'huh?'

I strolled toward her and slowly raised my hand to her cheek, stroking it gently. I really hated Jennifer. I couldn't believe that she somehow managed to deceive me into wanting her as Jane. At least she didn't realize what was to come.

Before she could react, I placed both my hands around her head and snapped her neck.

There wasn't much to assess at the house. A frightened girl was crying in Hollie's arms—I assumed that she had done the deed and wanting nothing but to kill her, but Hollie had this dumb logic that little kids shouldn't be killed. Why was I even listening to that stupid spawn?

Oh right, because Adan got her back and I was too tired and lazy to battle him. Besides, it would waste a heck load of time.

On the coffee table was a Mickey Mouse mug that had remnants of the teleportation mix. Jane must have drank the whole thing without suspecting anything. Shouldn't it have smelled funny—not that she knew.

The whole thing didn't scream 'murder' or anything like that. But the fact that the most important person—at least to me—that was supposed to be in this situation wasn't, was more than worrying. It seriously made me want to wring Adan's neck. Or more specifically Hollie's because she couldn't do her goddamn job well enough.

"Tell me why I can't kill her again?" I asked. I just wanted to break something. Anything. Well, another neck.

Hollie wrapped a protective hand over Angie's cheek. "Because she's just a kid!"

I rolled my eyes. "So?" The scene was sickening. The last time Hollie wanted to protect something like that was a man called Ray or something, two hundred years ago.

I killed him eventually.

Adan picked up the mug and sniffed it again. "We have to figure out who made this."

There were two idiots next to me. "Wow Sherlock. Thanks for figuring that out."

He brushed my comment aside. "Any ideas?"

"A witch made it so a witch—or some witches—can decipher it. I'll just take it back and let my witches do it."

"There's barely any left, and you know better than I do that teleportation mixes are serious magic. There's not enough for your witches to decipher."

He had a point. But I didn't want anything more than to get him out of my face—and to find Jane of course. "Fine, we'll need more witches. I'll search for them."

"Or you could just use mine."

"Or I could find more of that potion. Right Angie?" I turned toward the little girl and smiled at her. Just that it wasn't any ordinary smile. It was the demonic kind. The kind where my eyes went blood red and canines jutted out of my mouth.

The little girl screamed.

She deserved that.

"Jason," Hollie said. She held a frown on her forehead. Then, she stroked Angie on her head and shushed her down, rocking her back and forth.

I shrugged.

The little girl reached into the pocket of her dress and pulled out a small little vial. "I have it here." She put it on the floor and rolled it toward me. "I'm sorry, just don't hurt me." She started bawling again. Kids.

So she actually did have something. I just showed her that face to scare the crap out of her. I squatted down and picked up the little vial from the floor. But it looked almost empty, with barely a drop of purple liquid staining its bottom. It was next to useless.

Or so I thought.

I flashed an amused look at Adan. "I think I know who took Jane."

"Who?" he asked.

On the cork of the vial was an emblem that I knew too well. The shape of a dragon and the initial 'K' was carved intricately on it. There was only one person I knew that had that initial and was obsessed with dragons.

It only made me want to strangle Adan even more. "You should take care of that spawn of yours," I said.

The horror on his face would have been entertaining, if deep down I didn't feel the same horror too.

Hollie voiced out for us the name that was no doubt repeating in both our heads.

"Kaine."


	22. Chapter 22

**Chapter 22: Cage**

The last thing I remembered was the burning feeling in my chest and my inability to feel anything but pain. I woke up in a dark room. So dark that I wouldn't have been able to see the walls if not for my enhanced vision. The paint on the ceilingwas starting to peel off and there was a rusty smell in the air.

My shirt was stained with blood and I couldn't comprehend why. I didn't cough up any. My head was still giddy, and I felt like throwing up.

"Finally awake?" I raised my head and glanced around the room. A man emerged from a corner. He had an unshaven beard and shaggy hair. Immediately the word 'danger' flashed in my mind. I looked for the nearest escape, before realizing that I was trapped in a cage-like structure.

I threw my body against it, but it didn't even budge.

He strolled over to a wooden table that was shoved next to me and rested his hand upon it. "I'm sorry about the blood, but I guess it's just one of the side effects of the potion. Oh, and don't bother about the cage, I put a spell on it."

Now that he was closer I had a better view of his face. He looked familiar. "Adan?" I asked. I didn't know why I said Adan's name. There was something about this guy that had to do with him.

His tone changed the minute I uttered the name. "Yes, Adan. The person that spawned me." It was easy to tell that he didn't like Adan very much.

"You're his spawn?"

"You say it as if I'm weaker than him. I'm not. Perhaps before, but now I stand a chance. Now more than ever since I've managed to have you in my hands."

I honestly had no intention to imply that. I was hoping that since he was Adan's spawn he would treat me better. From the sounds of it, the opposite was true.

A large force hit the cage which almost sent me flying backwards. "You." The man leaned against the bars, grinning at me. "You're my little prize." There was something about his smile that made me want to throw up. I wanted to inch myself away, though I didn't because it felt dangerous to move.

He let his eyes turn into a pitch black color. It was like a dark abyss that I never wanted to come close to. The tip of his fangs escaped from below his upper lip.

The side of his mouth curved upwards. "I'll be back for lunch." The man stood up and turned around, walking toward the door.

I assumed that he would be gone, but before his fingertips rested on the door knob, I felt his body bang against the bars of the cage again. He fully released his demon form, his teeth completely lengthened with his mouth open. A coarse hiss sounded from the back of his throat.

I thought that I'd be mauled.

Just then, his face receded to its normal appearance. "Just kidding. See you later."

He walked away again, but this time it was impossible to pry my eyes away from his back until the closed door left him completely out of sight.

The floor was a rough concrete and the cage was barely large enough to fit my body.

That wasn't what made me worry.

The most troubling thing was what that man said about 'lunch'. The look in his eyes told me that he wanted to... wanted to eat me or something. I became even more conscious about my neck. It never felt more vulnerable.

I dragged out Adan's letter and looked at it. If only I had listened to his emotions. Then I wouldn't have been left in the midst of danger. If only...

I wanted to get out of here.

'Adan,' I whispered. I repeated his name in my head so many times I lost count. A burnt bedroom was nothing compared to this cold place that smelled of death. I shouldn't have pushed him away, hurting his feelings in the process.

Right across me was a pair of handcuffs-with jagged spikes projected into where the wrists should have been. Bile churned in my gut. That man wasn't going to use that device on me. Was he?

This was the first time I regretted my tantrums so much-even more than those spurts of anger I had when I was still a kid.

The letter was folded. I held it in my palm, reading the words once more and rubbing the paper with my thumb. Even the sticker was still there. Adan wasn't going to let me get hurt. Was he?

They were coming for me, Adan and Hollie.

That thought gave me hope-something that made me remain stay sane in these cramped conditions. The blood loss was starting to make my throat burn. The thirst was creeping in. Hollie didn't give me any blood for a whole day before this.

My shoulders and hips were starting to feel sore from the awkward sitting position that I was left in. But that wasn't something to complain about. Not when my kidnapper might've left me hanging with those spiked handcuffs. It was good that all I was feeling was soreness.

I was starting to lose consciousness, but I couldn't let myself-something was about to feed on me.

A bright light escaped into the room, and quickly disappeared like a flash. A loud slamming sound accompanied the flash, as if there was lightning and thunder.

"Hello again."

I drew in a sharp breath and turned to my left. He was back.

The glint in his eyes made my heart race-and not in the romantic kind of way. "It's lunch time."

He was hungry. But so was I and starting to feel cranky. I barred my teeth at my kidnapper and thrashed myself against the bars again, wanting to knock him down.

I wanted to go home.

The man held a cocky grin on his face. "Easy there, love." I only I could tear his smile off that face. To send a warning, I growled.

As he reached for the lock of the cage, I eyed his fingers warily, my growl simmering down into a low warning. I felt like an animal. I almost thought I was one. It all felt so... instinctive.

The gate creaked open. At once I aimed for his throbbing throat. I'd take any kind of blood to feed my raging hunger. It was as if a knife was shoved down my throat and inching down my gut.

He grabbed my right arm and turned me around, pinning and rendering me helpless. "Fiesty," he whispered closely. His hot breath warmed the back of my ear. Disgusting. "I'd say I prefer the obedient ones, but I can't have the best of both worlds can I?"

I struggled against his strong hold, but like Adan, he felt like a rock. "Let me go-"

A sharp sound echoed throughout the room. It sounded like a scream. My scream? I couldn't tell. The sole thing I knew was the sharp pain in my throat that made my vision turn into a blank white. It never hurt this much when Adan bit me. In fact, it made me feel alive.

It was nothing like this.

I thought that the pain would never end. I couldn't even tell whether I was still alive anymore. Eventually, only the numbness remained. And then weakness. The blood was draining from my face. I wasn't alive anymore...

Or so I thought. The man released me from his arms and threw me onto the ground. "Delicious. The legends were true after all." I had no strength to turn around to see his face, but I was sure it was one that would make me want to crush him and rip off that vile mouth of his.

A delighted laugh sounded from him. "It makes me want more. I need you alive though."

Apparently, I was in the cage, because I heard the slamming of the gate and the locking of it. I didn't care. The groggy sensation made it difficult to think at about anything.

"I'll be back tomorrow," the man said, "don't worry about feeding. You will have some blood later. Can't have you dying of blood loss."

The blood. It seemed brilliant yet I didn't want it. I'd rather die right now than go through the pain again tomorrow.

I didn't remember what happened after he left. I passed out.


	23. Chapter 23

**Chapter 23: Messages**

_Adan_

"My lord, you need to rest."

Adriana had been griping at me to sleep every few hours. But how could I? Evelyn was missing and with Kaine. _Kaine_. My own spawn. I never would have created him those years ago if I had known this would happen.

She might be dead by now. Kaine was capable of anything. But he wouldn't kill her. He was the type of person that would drag out someone's suffering—until they begged him to let them die.

It annoyed me that he was an expert at spells and disguise too. Evelyn should be found by now.

We had searched every corner of the earth. I hadn't rested in fifteen days. Other things were more important than sleep. Much more important.

"Lord, please," Adriana said.

It was a simple plea, but it made me really mad. "WILL YOU PLEASE SHUT UP ABOUT THE SLEEPING?" Adriana cowered when I turned around. I sighed. "Sorry, I didn't mean to shout. It's just... you know."

She bowed, caution evident in her watery eyes. "I apologize for my actions my lord." She stepped away and shut the door behind her.

Where in the world was Jason? Had he found her yet? I haven't heard from him since the last time we met at Evelyn's house. Perhaps he found her and kept it a secret from me. The thought wasn't pleasant but it was still better than her being with Kaine. Jason was much less likely to hurt her. Although, the accuracy of that sentence could be contested. Being too sure of anything raised a person's vulnerability.

Evelyn wasn't dead. Impossible. I'd know if she were.

I sat down on my bed and rested my palms on my forehead. She had to be hidden by a spell, a particular one. But we needed to find specifically which spell was casted, and where. It might be five years before I see her again—and only in the best case scenario. Kaine might kill her by then.

And the torture Kaine could inflict seemed unimaginable.

A soft knock on the door forced me to pause my mental struggle.

"What is it?" I said, irritated.

Adriana carefully opened the door and peeked in. "It is lord Hearth, my lord. He wishes to see you."

The devil had finally arrived. Perhaps he had a clue, or a lead. Although, I didn't expect him to be so virtuous. He never worked liked to work with me, and with a case as personal as this, the only explanation I could conclude for his visit was that he needed something from me. Either that, or a mishap occurred and angered him.

I waved my hand lazily at Adriana. "Tell him that he can come meet me."

She nodded. "Yes my lord."

I didn't have to wait long to find Jason sitting on my small couch.

He looked ready to kill. "Hello."

"Hello," I replied.

"You're hiding something."

My second guess was right. Something occurred to piss him off.

"And what do you think I'm hiding from you?" I asked.

"My men had been keeping an eye out for the both of you. Hollie is missing too. She left Angie behind."

Same old Jason. Always thinking I had something up my sleeve. I didn't have time to deal with his nonsense. "Hollie is searching for Evelyn too, she could be anywhere."

He lifted my couch and threw it back onto the ground as he stood up. It left a crack on the floor. "And Hollie hasn't been sighted for five days!"

"She's a strong demon."

"You have Jane. Give her back."

His stupidity was starting to make me thoroughly exasperated. "I wouldn't be recruiting my whole entire search team to look for her if I had her."

Jason growled. "Kaine and Hollie are together with you. It's because there's three of you that's why she's so hard to find."

This was becoming ridiculous. Jason was only blaming me because he ran out of options.

He eyed me with his head tilted down. "I will find them. I can't kill you but I can take down Kaine and Hollie. And I will." Jason spun his body around and headed out, leaving behind his threat.

He was gone within a second.

It wasn't often that he got this worked up over something. Yes, he did rage almost every alternate day, but he never threatened to kill either Hollie or Kaine. Only me.

They were in danger.

I grabbed my blackberry which laid on the coffee table. Hollie needed to know about Jason. I punched in her number and put the phone to my ear. And then I waited. She always picked up within a few rings.

But this time, I was sent to the voicemail.

Hollie really was missing. Or busy. She might've found a lead and left her phone somewhere. A grown demon like her should be able to take care of herself.

Right?

Something about this made my stomach queasy. I ignored it. Hollie had taken care of herself for thousands of years. What made this year any different? I needed all my attention on Evelyn's case.

I sent a quick text message to Hollie: _Be careful. Jason threatened to take your life. Avoid him at all costs. _She would read it and follow my instructions. Hollie was smart enough.

Just then, I received a call from one of the leaders of my search parties. "We found a place that looks suspicious my lord."

Another potential hideout. We had been to hundreds over the last fifteen days. Each turned out to be a disappointment. "Where is it?"

"Russia my lord, a house in Pskov, a spell makes it impossible to open the doors."

"I'll be right over."

All the hideouts were like this—a spell casted on them. But they were always trapping the wrong victim. A human that was meant to be kept in my a blood-crazed vampire, or a psycho witch that liked to experiment with things and wanted to keep others out. None of them were ever Evelyn.

I hurried over. It didn't take too much time before I got there. A group of five men crowded around a small house. It was old and some of its wood had already been broken off to leave gaps in the walls.

This team consisted of four seekers—almost spirit-like entities that could sense the presence of emotions, magic and beings, whether supernatural or no—-and a warlock to check for spells.

"What's the situation?" I asked.

A seeker moved—more like floated—toward me. "My lord, there are over fifty possible spells that are keeping this building locked. We have checked through the gaps in the walls—nothing important there. It might take a day or two to break in."

"A day?" That was too long. "Evelyn might be dying and here you are taking your own sweet time searching through houses? I give you all five hours max."

"But my lord—"

"And all you seekers don't need to linger over here. Make yourselves useful. Look for another place."

"Yes my lord," the seeker said. He gestured toward his companions to follow him and they flew away like feathers in the wind, leaving the warlock with me.

He looked at my with a confused and worried gaze.

We'd have found Evelyn by now if not for these imbeciles. I rolled my eyes at the warlock. "Well? What are you waiting for? Start working."

He nodded his head so hard I thought it was going to fall off. Quick footsteps led him to the front of the house where he knelt down and opened a book. He flipping through the pages and starting working his magic, glowing rays emanating from his hands.

I've seen dying warlocks do faster magic than him. I wanted to peel his guts out from his abdomen but getting another warlock here would take longer than if I just let him do his work.

I glanced at the screen of my phone again. No missed calls. I was hoping to get a few more. Each call meant a potential lead to my Evelyn, but this was only the fifth place we've found since she went missing.

The other seekers had mentioned that they had checked the house through the gaps, but I couldn't trust them to be thorough. I looked went up to it and took a glance myself. Cobwebs hung from the ceilings of the place. They were right. I had expected the house to have something more though.

"Hurry it up," I said as the time ticked away.

The warlock shook his head. "My lord, I will need at least a day or two."

Or two? Who knew what could happen to her in two days.

I set my mouth into a grim line. "You only have five hours tops. I said so before."

"That's impossible."

"Is it? Do you want you head served on a platter tomorrow? Or maybe your entrails fed to the dogs?" Stupid incompetence.

His face drained into a pale white. "No my lord." The lower lip of his mouth quivered as he spoke.

"Then get to work!"

"Yes immediately." The warlock started to work his spells with his fingers, flipping through the spell book more quickly than before. I still didn't find him fast enough, but at least he made improvement.

If only Evelyn knew how to talk to us through her mind. I should've taught her how to do so. Selfishness prevented me from teaching her. I wanted the connection to be intimate and only shared between the both of us, almost as if to confirm that she had chosen me as her true mate.

Here I stood, terrorizing all my minions for their incompetence while I was actually the worst.

I took another glance at the screen of my blackberry, paranoia tensing up my nerves.

Nothing, except for a message from Adriana about _another_ spat between the werewolves and the vampires. They never gave up. I already held a few conferences to make pacts between both clans, each one failing to reach a amicable agreement.

I couldn't be bothered.

If only she could talk to me mentally...

_Adan._

I forgot to breathe for a second. Was that actually Evelyn? Perhaps it was a hallucination.

_Help me..._

Evelyn had called for me. Or did my worry morph into imaginary thoughts that blurred my judgment? I held back my words for a moment. It might've been a trap set by Kaine. But if her voice was real, my suspicion left Evelyn vulnerable.

I gave in and answered anyway. _Evelyn?_

_Adan. _She sounded choked up and croaky. _Help._

_Where are you?_

Silence. Did something happen that stopped her from answering? It lasted for a few minutes. It might've been a trap after all. But then that didn't make sense either because just a few of my thoughts were worth nothing to Kaine.

My chest had a sinking feeling. _Evelyn?_I probed again, hoping for a reply.

_I don't know where I am._Finally, an answer. She was definitely in pain. What had that bastard done to her?

_Describe the place. _

_Dusty walls... torture instruments..._

Torture instruments? Oh shit. _Did he use any on you?_

_No, he just took blood._

That was enough to send anger raging through me. I visualized myself decapitating Kaine. No, that wasn't enough. I needed to give him a slow death. Locked up and tortured, like how he treated my Evelyn.

I reeled in my anger and focused on the situation. _What else?_

_A cage._

Something extraordinary interrupted our conversation. An image. The dusty walls, cage, torture instruments; she sent that visual clearly to me. _Wow, _I said. The place looked familiar.

Like I had stood there before.

Her voice seemed weaker the next time she spoke. _What was that? _The mental work must have drained her energy.

I decided to keep our conversation short to prevent tiring her out any further, even though I wanted nothing more than to hear her sweet thoughts. _Something amazing. Only a few people had ever sent me images through their minds. Only a few are capable. _Evelyn must have been really desperate to develop her mental prowess so quickly.

I had to find her as soon as possible.

Her reply was short. _Oh._

_I'll find you soon. Just stay strong._

Her thoughts suddenly grew louder and more panicky. _I think he's coming for me now Adan. Help me._

_Just hold on, I'm coming._I really hated myself for not being able to save her. I needed to remember where that place was. Fast.

_Please, Adan._

_I love you. I'll be there soon._

I thought that she wouldn't reply, but she did. Plus, I completely did not expect her reply. _I love you too._

I would have been in a celebratory mood if not for the danger posed to her. _I'm coming for you._

This time, the silence remained. Kaine must have already gotten to her. I buried my face in my hand, trying to calm down the frustration that made me feel like exploding. My mate. I was foolish to let her out of my sight.

I looked back at the house. Now that I saw the image I knew that she wasn't in there. But I let the warlock continue. An illusion spell might've been casted over the house—being too sure was never safe.

Torture tools... old walls... I knew the place, I just couldn't put my finger on it.

I walked to a trash can and kicked it down to vent out my frustration. Then, I sped off, following my instincts.


	24. Chapter 24

**Chapter 24: Finally**

I finally managed to reach out to Adan. I never expected that thoughts could be communicated that way, Adan always seemed to be on his blackberry. But I think now I knew why. I felt slightly disassociated from the room, and it gave me a slight headache.

Communicating with the mind was tiring-much more tiring than using a phone. It had side effects.

At least now he knew where I was. Somewhat. My body didn't seem to be mine anymore, the weakness and lack of blood made me detached from it.

The man only visited me for two reasons: to feed me blood, I didn't know the source of it but I started to not care after all that pain, or to feed from me. My life revolved around that red substance now. I existed to feed, in both sense of the word. And I hated this lifestyle.

He had come again. I lifted my eyelids slowly, and the blurry sight of his feet came into view. What time was it? He either fed from me or fed me at different times. Although it never mattered-I didn't have a way to find out the time anyway. Still, knowing what would happen to me next seemed nice.

The man opened the gate. "It's lunch time."

Whose lunch?

I could visualize the smirk on his face. "It's time for me to feed."

My kidnapper held me by my elbow and dragged me out of the cage. He was never gentle about it. But then again, were kidnappers ever gentle with their victims? My arm had bruises all over it. Another one failed to make much of a difference.

I let myself get pulled around like a rag doll. He dragged me out of the enclosure through my wrist. I used to care, but not any longer.

He bent down and placed his face beside my neck. "Have I ever told you how good you taste?" The man lapped at my skin. This wasn't the first time, but I never got used to it. It always sent a sick feeling down my stomach.

He stroked my cheek. "Invigorating. Its no surprise why everyone wants it. I want to keep you alive down here forever. I've never felt stronger. I feel like I can even kill Adan now."

_No, _I thought, _he can't. I trust Adan._

My kidnapper threw his head back and let out a loud laugh that bounced off the walls_. "_Trust has nothing to do with this, love. It is just about who is stronger. And right now, I am."

I didn't know if I was audible, but I used all my strength to utter a sentence. "I believe Adan... is stronger."

He chuckled and moved his hand toward my chin, stroking it softly. "As I said, it is not a matter of beliefs." His mouth moved closer to my skin and blew against it. "Now keep quiet and let me feed."

His fangs slowly pierced into the nape of my neck. He fed like this on purpose. It prolonged the pain. Instead of a sharp immediate pain, the agony came in crawling seconds. I counted, hoping that his meal time would quickly pass.

I counted to no avail. The piercing pain came anyway. I thought that my voice had run out, and that my vocal chords no longer had the energy to let out any sound. But my back arched as I tried to come with the burning in my neck, and my mouth opened wide as I let out a shrieking noise.

I wanted my senses to numb. They didn't.

It felt like centuries before the man finished his torture on me. He pried his fangs out of my neck and licked it with his tongue. I became useless to him after each meal-after all, he received what he came for. The man let me drop onto the ground like some piece of trash.

"Thanks for the meal," he said, before kicking me back into the cage. Hard. This time he got my ribcage, like many other times. It hurt, but it was nothing compared to how it felt like when his fangs were buried in me.

I let out a soft whimper, as if that would make my situation any better. In my semi-conscious state, I lifted my eyelids and saw the man's face. It was covered in blood. My blood. His eyes were fiery and power hungry, like the sinister smile that spread across his face.

I hated him with all my heart.

Adan would come for me. He had to.

Just then, I heard a loud commotion upstairs. The screams of the men there echoed so loudly that I could hear them.

My kidnapper smirked. The fire in his eyes glowed even greater, if that was even possible. "He's here."

Who was here? Adan? Was he finally here?

The man spun himself around and hastily exited the room. He looked so eager, and animalistic, like a crazed being that wanted nothing more than a fight.

I was about to sink into a deep sleep-I always did right after each meal. But I couldn't this time. Not when the loud noise upstairs signaled the arrival of my mate. He promised that we would come for me.

A minute passed before I realized that I should have allowed myself to fall asleep. A sudden pressure weighed down on me. It was no ordinary pressure. The gravity that pulled against my body was so strong that I felt as if the moon was lying on top of my body. It made my bones feel as if they were crushing and falling apart.

The pressure felt familiar-it manifested when Jason and Adan were about to fight with each other. But I was healthier and stronger then, not like now, when my being was in an extremely weakened state.

I couldn't take it.

The weight pressed on my chest so hard that I needed to cough. And I did. I coughed up blood. It mixed together with the blood that my kidnapper had left all over me. I knew that the time for my last breath had come.

Everything was a blur when it happened. My eyelids repeatedly fluttered down and then back up again. I saw two figures burst into the room. They were grappling against each other. One was obviously winning, with the other figure bending down and losing to body that towered over him.

Adan had to be the towering figure. There was no other possible scenario. Or so I hoped.

They stumbled toward me. They both fell onto the ground; one man had managed to pin the other below him.

It was at that moment when Adan stared straight into my face. My kidnapper had him pinned down.

My heart almost fell out of my chest.

Adan was in... danger? Because of me?

"No," I said, or tried to. I only managed the slow movement of my lips.

Adan's face contorted with worry. "Evelyn? Is that you?" It was almost as if looking at me gave him new found resolve. He struggled against the man, hitting against his face using his elbows. The man's chin flew backwards.

My mate used that opportunity to switch positions, flipping the man over and holding him down with his weight. He kept his hand on his throat, keeping him in position.

The man tried to escape from Adan's grasp, but it was useless. "I'm... stronger than you." His words came out from gritted teeth.

"I can kill you now," Adan said, his eyes filled with resolve.

"You can't."

My mate dug his whole hand into my kidnapper's chest, forcing out an uncomfortable groan from him. "Yes I can. It's dawn." I would have shrieked a few months ago, but now, I've seen much worse and I was too beat up to care about the man. I wanted him dead.

The man never knew when to stop. He still had a cocky grin on his face. "It is dawn, but you _care_ too much." His words came out so hard that it triggered a cough from him. "You care too much because you created me."

"Yes I did. And it's the biggest regret of my life." Adan shoved his hand deeper into the man's chest. I heard a squelching noise. "I should have killed you long ago, Kaine."

Kaine. I had seen him before. Back when I was still in Adan's castle. Adan had... created him?

Kaine chuckled. "But you won't. And you can't."

I assumed that Adan had done something to Kaine's heart, because Kaine yelled out in pain. It was only then did a look of shock registered on his face. "You're serious about this aren't you?"

Adan growled. "Yes I am." I could only imagine what Adan was doing to the insides of Kaine's body. He let out another yell.

"I promise. I promise that if you let me go I'll never come close to Evelyn again," Kaine said, his words a bit too rushed.

Adan narrowed his eyes. "You promises do not mean anymore, spawn." I had never seen Adan so serious.

"I will give you everything."

"That means little to me."

I had always believed in Adan. He clearly had the upper hand now. For a short instance, I noticed him sliding a side glance to me. His expression softened for a brief moment. _It's okay, you don't have to worry anymore._

His reassurance allowed me to let unconsciousness take its hold over me. Passing out was starting to become a bad habit of mine, because at that crucial moment, I let my body sink into a deep sleep.


	25. Chapter 25

**Chapter 25: Last Encounter**

_Hollie_

Where was I?

I remembered trying to find Kaine before I was brought here. In fact, I found him. He lingered somewhere in Germany. I confronted him at a field of poppies. It was beautiful. He wouldn't tell me where he hid Evelyn. His face looked even more smug than usual.

I tried to fight him, but he was so much stronger than usual. I failed to even land a punch. I barely had any time before he hit my head and I blacked out.

And now here I was, in this place I knew nothing about.

Spider webs hung from the top of the ceiling. As I walked, my feet lifted clouds of dust off the ground. The place was filthy. I could tell that the sun was just rising because the wooden walls were already starting to give way, allowing a soft shimmer of light to escape through its gaps.

My head was still giddy from the fight. Kaine had really hit me hard.

I pushed myself up into a seating position and tried to steady my mind, resting my hand on my head. I wanted to just lie down there and close my eyes until the headache went away. But I had no time to do such useless things. Evelyn was missing and I had to find her.

I stood up and walked toward the wooden walls. They were falling apart; it shouldn't be hard to knock one of them down. I could even knock down the whole house if I wanted to.

But something didn't make sense: Why would Kaine drag me all the way down here?

I pressed my hand against the wall and pushed as hard as my muscles allowed me to. Nothing. I furrowed my brows. Something wasn't right. I threw my hand at the wooden wall, trying to punch it down.

A large force repelled me back from it. It hit my chest, pushing me across the room. My head fell into contact with the wall on the other side, and that wall repelled me too, this time against the ground. My face landed straight onto it.

I forgot to blink for a moment. I had just been juggled around by a house. I was never treated like this by anything or anyone before. My headache got even worse.

I looked up at the house with a vengeance. I hated the walls. My raw instincts urged me to rush up and punch them once more, but that would just be stupid. I would be juggled around once again.

The house had beenspelled.

I lied down on the floor and took a few deep breaths, waiting for the pain to dissipate. It didn't take long for it to mellow into a soft ache at the back of my head.

Kaine was great with spells. He was even better than the best of witches-a hard feat since witches, even though we created them, were much more adept than us at harnessing the power of magic. I was attuned with barrier magic, but breaking Kaine's spell would still prove to be a difficult feat.

I dragged myself to my feet and made my way to the front door. It was time to break this spell. I had to find Evelyn. Adan counted on me for it.

And Angie. I doubted that neither Adan nor Jason would try to protect her. Who knew what would happen to her if I weren't around? Jason was danger. He wanted to kill her.

The thought of Angie being in danger made me panic. I needed to get out of here. Quick. I immediately started to work on my magic, trying to decipher the spell.

It was difficult without a spell book. The witches had invented over a hundred barrier spells over the last hundreds of years. I felt around the magical aura. The soft nature of it let me narrow it down to fifty other spells that could have been casted.

Fifty. That didn't make much of a difference either. I couldn't memorize every single one of them.

I bit my lip in frustration. "Shit."

The aura didn't seem right though. It didn't feel... natural. Like another force had invaded. There was only one other explanation.

Someone else was working on breaking it too.

That gave me newfound hope. With more hands, the spell could be broken faster. I started recalling all the spells that I had memorized. Each spell was at least a few pages long. It took me decades to learn most of them.

I cursed at myself for not starting my obsession with barriers a few decades earlier. That way, I wouldn't be struggling to break this one spell right now.

The magical aura felt slightly off. Like it was a completely unconventional spell. Kaine had specially designed an odd one to keep me in here. No wonder the person at the other side was taking so long to break me out of here.

I closed my eyes and worked the waves with my fingers. This honestly sucked. My headache started to get worse with the sheer concentration I needed to manipulate the magic. It wasn't just basic memorization work that could break this spell. Each one of them had to be tweaked in a bunch of other ways.

It had only been twenty minutes when the other person's magic had stopped. My heart sank. It would take longer now that he gave up. He left me alone to break it.

I focused on the situation at hand. Evelyn and Angie needed my help.

My mind started to get tired from all the concentration. Sleepiness tugged at me. I forced my eyes open.

And when I least expected it, the spell had broke.

I had only used a simple spell, the very first one I could memorize. But the spell was tweaked in a very odd way, something that took me an hour to figure out.

No wonder the other guy couldn't break it. It was the least expected spell for anyone to use and it was necessary to maneuver it as such. Luck had made it so that my headache prevented me from recalling any of the other barrier spells properly.

I eagerly pulled the door open and stepped out of it. The sun had not fully risen. A soft orange glow tinged the clouds.

I scanned my surroundings. I recognized this place and it definitely wasn't Germany. I reached down into my pocket and expected to grab my phone. It wasn't there. Kaine must have taken it. I cursed under my breath. Adan might have needed me for something.

An old lady passed by the house.

I wanted to go down and ask her where we were when a voice stopped me. "Where have you kept Jane?"

I spun my head around toward the familiar voice. Jason stood there. "What do you mean?" I asked. He made it sound as if I've taken her. I thought that we all came to the consensus that Kaine did.

It was only then did I notice a dead body hanging at the top of the roof. Its head was missing and blood was spilling out its neck and dripping down.

The other guy that had helped me. Jason killed him.

Jason rolled his eyes. "You've finally come out of hiding. You, Adan and Kaine. All of you planned this didn't you? Where is Jane? Is she in there?" He pointed to the house.

I was thoroughly confused. "I was trapped in there. By Kaine."

"LIAR!"

"What are you talking about? Do you know how ridiculous you're sounding?"

"Me, ridiculous?" Jason let out a low chuckle that made me stomach turn. "Yes. Yes I am ridiculous. I'm ridiculous because I've let you insult me all these years. I let you run around and disrespect me, even though I created you to be _below _me."

I stared and him and swallowed. This was the first time Jason seemed so threatening.

He narrowed his eyes. "It's time for me to put you back in place."

I looked at the sun. It was still dawn. I just needed to stall him for a few more minutes. Then he wouldn't be able to kill me.

"I never took Evelyn."

"Call her Jane."

I tightened my jaw. "I never took Jane."

"I know what you're doing Hollie. Don't think for a second that I will fall for it."

"Fall for what?" Jason had found out my scheme. It was too obvious. I was done for.

Just a few more seconds. That's all I needed. Of course, he wouldn't allow it.

I stared at him, as if that would make a difference. "Where is this place you say I belong to?"

He growled and barred his fangs at me. "In hell." His claws lengthened. I imagined them tearing into my flesh—exactly what he would do in just a few seconds.

And then, he lunged.

I didn't stand a chance.


	26. Chapter 26

**Chapter 26: Gone**

_Adan_

She can't be... not her...

Not Evelyn.

My loved one lied on a soft bed with yellow sheets. The witches crowded around and tried to heal her. She was like this ever since my fight with Kaine had ended.

I had let Kaine escape.

He was right. I didn't have it in me to kill him. Not after knowing him for so many years. Not after using up so much of my essence to create him.

Kaine was almost like a part of me. A warped part that went in the other direction.

But enough about Kaine. I figured that I should leave the troubles that he brought for another day.

Evelyn was dying.

I walked up to one of the head healers. "What's the situation?"

She was an old woman. Wrinkles had formed on her face and her lips sagged downwards—there was only so much longevity and youth spells could do. Witches were mortal.

The witch looked confidently at me. "She's still in danger. But her situation is starting to look good." She sounded professional, like how a doctor would address his patients. Apparently the fact that I would kill all of them in an instant if Evelyn died didn't make much of difference to her.

I furrowed my brows. "And that means?"

"We'll most likely be able to get her on track soon. But it's still not a guarantee. At this point anything can happen."

Anything could happen. I walked over to the couch and rested my palms on my forehead. Evelyn was still at risk of dying. I had sworn to protect her from all dangers, and yet here she lied, frail and damaged.

Her body was cold, and her face so pale that anybody would recognize her as a dead person. How could anyone survive with so little blood running through their veins? She had lost so much weight when she went missing. The sides of her face sagged in, and her wrists were so thin it was easy to mistake them for bare bone.

I regretted letting Kaine go. He needed to pay for this.

But the witches could work magic. Literally. I trusted them. It was the only thing that I could do. Demons were terrible at healing. We were meant to destroy and cause chaos, not heal people.

I sat helplessly next to her as I let the witches work. A green glow emanated from their palms as they chanted their spells. The words moved past so quickly that everything became a blur.

Time crept endlessly. If she died... I wasn't sure how to spend the rest of eternity alone. I would probably give up the battle to Jason and allow myself to die. Although, I couldn't be sure that Jason would want the same thing.

Only one of us could die. If he killed me, no one else was capable of killing him.

_Adan? _

My eyes shot up to Evelyn's face. That was her voice again. She was talking to me.

"Evelyn?" I said out loud, hoping she could hear me.

_You seem worried. _Her face was a blank slate but her voice sounded filled with emotion.

I held her hand tighter. _I am. You might die, my love. _

_There's not much to worry about. _

_Are you feeling alright? _I stroked the back of her hand with my thumb, wishing to bring her comfort.

_I feel weak, but I'm getting stronger. There's something that's pulling me back. _

It must have been the healers. I looked around. All of them stood in them concentration, their eyes shut tight. Some of them even had beads of sweat on their foreheads.

I assumed that death was enough incentive to make them so focused, but I still wanted to reward them when Evelyn got better.

_Promise me you'll be fine, _I said.

_I promise. I will. It feels... warm, _Evelyn replied.

I allowed my shoulders to slacken. I didn't notice that I was sitting upright with my back like a plank until now. Finally, I could let myself sink into the chair.

Evelyn would be fine.

I wanted to say something else to her to prompt her to speak, but I was afraid that she would lose energy because of it.

For a long time I sat there in silence staring at her beautiful face. Her cheeks started to turn pink and her fingers began to feel warmer. The witches were doing a great job.

For a moment, I allowed myself to smile. Although, I still looked at her longingly, hoping to hear something from her.

She answered my wishes, even though I didn't expect her to speak. _You can talk to me you know. _

_But you're weak._

_I feel much better. I think I'm going to wake up any time now._

_Really? _I wanted to see those mesmerizing eyes of hers flutter open again.

_Yes, really. I have enough energy to talk. _

_You'll recover faster if you rest, my dear. _I didn't want to send her back to silence, but it was the right thing to do.

I lifted her hand up to my face and rested it against my cheek. As cliche as it sounded, Evelyn was so close yet so far.

I glanced at her chapped lips. It hurt to see her so deprived.

"It is time to feed her," the head healer said decisively. It was a statement, not only to me but to the rest of the witches as well. Yet, I didn't mind her rudeness. It made me glad that her straightforwardness made her professional and efficient.

One of the warlocks stopped his magic, allowing the faint green glow to recede. He got up and left to fetch some food-namely, blood.

_Why does it suddenly feel slightly colder? _Evelyn asked, her tone panicky.

I reassured her. _A warlock stopped momentarily. He will be back soon. There's nothing to worry about. _

_Okay. _I could almost hear a sigh of relief in her voice. It wavered my confidence about her recovery. Was she lying when she said that she without a doubt, would be completely fine?

_Shush now, communicating like this takes up a lot of strength, _I said

Just then, the blackberry in my pocket started to buzz. I ignored it, wanting to reserve all my attention for my sick damsel. The buzzing stopped, and I assumed that the caller had given up. Apparently not, because it continued again after mere seconds.

It was not until a good ten calls did the blackberry finally stopped.

The warlock had returned with a blood bag in his hands. He methodically cut it open with a pair of scissors that was on a desk across the room before rushing over to Evelyn's side.

I narrowed my eyes at him. "You're not going to pour it straight into her mouth are you? She's not conscious."

He opened his mouth to speak, but the head healer interjected him with her cool voice. "No, of course not my lord. We have a spell to make the blood transfer as clean as possible."

The warlock grabbed a bowl from a drawer and poured the blood into it. Then, he closed his eyes and raised his hands over the bowl, trying to concentrate. He chanted a long string of words. I recognized a few of them, but I was still not proficient enough with witch spells—I never really took enough time to learn.

He lifted a giant drop of blood from the bowl and directed it to Evelyn. He wasn't going to soil her was he? I wanted to reach out for his hands and stop him, but I trusted the procedures of the witches—after all, they were my most elite team of healers.

The drop levitated above Evelyn's chest. After years of seeing so many events, what happened next failed to surprise me. The mass of blood began to become smaller, as if it were sinking into Evelyn—it most likely was.

My blackberry buzzed one more time. A text message had arrived.

The sender was incredibly annoying. News of Evelyn's predicament should have spread to all my subjects by now. They must be certain that nothing could be more important.

The sender was asking for a death wish.

I begrudgingly pulled the blackberry out of my pocket and clicked a few buttons to reach the text.

Wesley, one of the seekers I had sent was the caller. The warlock must have opened the door of the house. Couldn't he prioritize things? The house was most likely empty.

I let out a sigh of frustration and read the message:

_My lord, _

_The door had successfully been opened but the warlock's body was found dead on the roof. Another body was found on the porch. We have not yet identified it as it is heavily disfigured, but our suspicion suggests that it might be our mistress, Hollie. We may require your assistance my lord. _

I stopped breathing for a moment there. Hollie? Perhaps they identified her wrongly. Those imbeciles. I tried to think that way but the sinking feeling in my stomach persisted. It couldn't possibly be her. A demon that had lived for thousands of years. It was simply impossible to imagine her... dead.

Jason had threatened to kill her.

The realization that her death was entirely plausible when Jason was involved sank in. I looked at Evelyn. I didn't want to abandon her but I needed to confirm that the body wasn't Hollie's... or that it was.

_Why are you suddenly so worried? _Evelyn reached out to me. She was very close to Hollie. If she found out what happened now, it might stem her recovery.

_It's nothing. _

_You're hiding something. _Her tone sounded almost chastising.

_I need to find Hollie. _I didn't want to tell her the whole truth, so I lied. _She might be in danger. _

Evelyn left a momentary silence. I reached out to her emotions. I sensed her small heart beat faster.

_You should go find her. I don't want anything to happen to her, _she finally responded.

I didn't want her to dampen her health because of this. _Are you okay? _

_I'm fine. Just make sure that Hollie is alright. _

But it might've already been too late.

I took a big gulp. _I will. _

Evelyn always looked at me as if I were omnipotent. Heck, the whole world saw me that way. Even I did sometimes. The only person that refused to recognize me as such was Jason. But there were many times when I suddenly felt hopeless and weak.

I could never bring a loved one back to life.

Sometimes, I saw myself as a god. It might've been narcissistic, but I was close. However, when I looked upon a still, dead, white face, I realized how nobody—not even the most powerful being on earth-was omnipotent. Everyone had some kind of weakness, regardless of how insignificant their weaknesses were.

I took one more look at Evelyn's face. _I'll be back. I promise. _

_Be safe. _

Her words brought a smile to my lips. Her innocent reply meant so much. I had never heard anyone wish me as such before. Mainly because my safety had never been something to worry about.

I released her soft hands and stood up. I wanted to be there when she woke up, but another important matter called. Staying next to her was like being at home. I'd protect her and never allow her to become like... like... _like Hollie. _

I shook the thought from my head. No. That body wasn't Hollie's. My subjects had been mistaken. Hollie couldn't be killed by anyone. Anyone but Jason and me.

"What's her condition?" I asked the head healer.

The side of the witch's lip curved upwards. "She's completely stabilized. She should be awake by tomorrow latest."

That reassured me. "Great work. All of you will be rewarded accordingly."

She nodded slowly. Sincerity failed to show on her face. She simply replied to look polite. "I was just serving my duties, my lord."

"You're being modest," I said. This time I started to feel insincere too. Her lack of emotion irked me slightly.

I lifted myself off the seat. "Call me if she wakes up. I need to attend to something."

"Of course, my lord," the healer replied without looking up. She concentrated on fixing Evelyn's predicament.

At least I knew that my mate would be in capable hands.

I exited the room and headed off to Russia.

Soon, I found myself at the front porch of the house.

The house had been broken in. I scanned the area for signs of dead bodies. The blood on the roof had already dried and stained the pipes which it flowed down from.

There were no signs of any bodies on the porch. Wesley might've moved them. Or maybe he played a prank on me. But that was just stupid. He knew better than to waste my time. Most monsters did.

I walked closer to the house and to the backyard. Still no bodies, although the grass was splattered with fresh, vibrant red blood. Just like Christmas. I shook the wry thought from my mind.

Someone had just died.

The evidence for death were all there. But who?

The back door was left gaping open, with a gruesome maroon handprint smeared across it. The house was not lit, but my eyes could still make out its inside; wooden flooring and splatters of red.

I moved into the living room. What the hell had happened here? The walls had similar handprints plastered all over them too. It seemed like the victim had a terrible death, although I had seen worse.

An uneasy feeling told me that something was behind me. I turned around.

And there were the bodies. All of them severed. Three heads stared at me with their eyes wide open and their hair thrown around. Next to them were their dead bodies stacked on top each other.

I recognized all of them. The warlock, Wesley...

And Hollie.

Her face was burnt, leaving black, rotting scars that made her barely recognizable. But her large, shocking green eyes and wild red hair remained. It was her. My heart froze over. Hollie had remained by my side all these years. She never deserved this.

Her killer was either Kaine or Jason. Jason had threatened us but he wouldn't actually do it... would he? She was his own spawn.

I knew that I never should have let Kaine go.

"Will you give me Evelyn now?"

I faced the voice. And there was Hollie's killer, sauntering in without a care in the world.

I didn't think that I'd be able to hate him more. But I did. "Jason."


	27. Chapter 27

**Chapter 27: Taken**

My eyes were closed and I couldn't see anything but darkness. I felt a warmth that pulled against me, as if it were tugging at me to... somewhere. Maybe the clouds, or most likely to consciousness. The warmth was soothing and comfortable and I never wanted it to stop.

I wondered what was happening to my body. The warmth might've just been part of a dream. A nice dream that I never wanted to wake up from. I could've been in Adan's arms. That explained the warmth. But it seemed different. Like this feeling could only be created by... by magic.

I was reaching to top. The top of what? No idea. My heart started to race in my chest with excitement that was impossible to contain. The warmth started to pulse, and soon it became difficult to cope with.

Suddenly I didn't want the warmth anymore. I hated it and I would do anything to get out of it. I thought that it was going to sear into my flesh.

Then I saw light.

My eyelids fluttered open. I had woken up from a long sleep. I thought that I'd see Adan there waiting for me, but he wasn't. A group of people was standing where he should've been. Their expressions were serious. Not a single smile.

Where was I? And why are a bunch of strangers crowding around me?

An old woman answered my questions. "You're finally awake mistress. And you must be wondering. We are your healers. You have been seriously ill."

"Where is Adan?"

"He had left to settle some troubles."

The conversation we had when I was still asleep sprung into my mind. Hollie was in danger and he went to save her. Worry took hold of my chest. Were the both of them alright?

I glanced at the healer and nodded. "Oh. Thank you for taking care of me."

She had already begun to pack her items into a cream-colored haversack. They weren't normal medical supplies such as bandages and stethoscopes, but cult-like objects instead, such as a feather brush and wooden dolls. Perhaps they were performing magic after all.

The healer glanced up at me nonchalantly. "You're welcome. We would love to stay longer but we have more patients to cater to. Our work here is done."

For some reason, I doubted that she meant it when she said that she wanted to stay.

I wanted to know that Adan was safe. I focused my mind and tried to reach out to him. It was so simple to talk to him mentally these days. It came naturally now. _Adan? _

I waited for his reply, but it didn't come.

My worry grew stronger. Had Adan fallen prey to the danger that he tried to save Hollie from? He failed to respond to my call for the first time. Previously, Adan would reply with an eager voice that ensured that he would always be there for me.

If he met any mishap—no, that was too terrible a thought. I wouldn't know how to continue living for an eternity without both Adan and Hollie by my side.

I pushed myself up and swung my feet to the side of the bed, sweeping the woolen sheets aside. As I straightened my knees and stood up, blood rushed to my head, making me feel light-headed. The slight dizziness made me somewhat disorientated, but it went away after I took a few steps.

Adan should be fine—I continuously repeated that to myself. He had survived perfectly fine for the last few millenniums. What made this one any different? But despite my logic, I could not ignore the sickening feeling that rolled around in my stomach.

I needed to find him.

But where? All I knew was that he went to save Hollie from trouble. I could not recall him telling me where.

I stalked to the wooden door that separated me from the outside. The building was made out of the same gray brick tiles that Adan built his castle with. I had an inkling about where he kept me.

The door was attached to a golden handle. I held it and turned it before pulling the door open. The door made a loud creak.

My hand flew to my mouth when I saw who stood outside. I tried to control my shock.

Jason greeted me with a wry smile with his hand raised. Splatters of red covered the left side of his face and his shirt was soaked with a darkened brown that smelled oddly like blood.

"I came to find you," he said. He reached for my hand and held it in his.

His touch no longer felt as comforting as before. I felt oddly disappointed that he wasn't Adan. "What happened?"

He narrowed his eyes. "Adan killed Hollie. It was an accident, but now he's in a rage. I must keep you from him."

"WHAT? Hollie..." I failed to believe what he told me. Lively, bubbly Hollie. The only person that tried her best to keep me sane in this whole ordeal. "She's dead?" I wanted to throw myself to the ground and weep until my eyes ran dry of tears.

But Jason had other plans. "We have to go. Adan is dangerous now."

I reluctantly followed him as he tugged me along. Adan had killed her? Somehow that was difficult to believe. He told me that he went to save her. How did the opposite happen? I felt betrayed and depressed.

Tears pooled around my eyes. I tried to hold them back, but death was a difficult thing to ignore. All that is left is any empty body without warmth, movement or emotions. And despite me wanting to spend more time with Hollie and enjoy her accompany, death was absolute. All I was left were memories that would grow increasingly fainter each day as new ones—regardless of whether they were pleasant or not—replaced them.

The drops of tears flowed freely down my cheeks. I controlled myself from yelling out in agony because of the situation that Jason and I were in. We had to run away from Adan because he posed a threat.

But that thought felt wrong. Deep down I knew that Adan wouldn't ever hurt me. I pressed my doubts to the back of mind. My anger at his evil deed forced me to remove all trust I had for him.

I glanced at Jason for comfort. His back used to spell protection and love, but now it simply looked steely and cold. Why couldn't he be the one that betrayed me instead? Then I would love Adan, and choose him instead.

I focused again and reached out to Adan with my mind, calling him with all that I had. I wanted him to tell me that it wasn't true. That Hollie lived somewhere, that she remained in hiding. That he hadn't killed her. More tears rolled from my eyes as I called him, each time receiving no response.

It must have been true then. He avoided me.

As I walked, the grief became too heavy and weighed me down. Jason moved forward too quickly. I let my footsteps slow.

Jason gave my arm a hard tug. "Hurry up, we have to go before Adan comes." It almost hurt. Why did he run so hurriedly? He should be able to fight off Adan with ease.

We reached to front entrance. Jason lifted his palm and threw the door away just as Adan did before.

Adriana stood on the other side, her face hardened with determination. "I cannot let you pass."

Jason sneered. "And what makes you think that you can do that?"

"I will die trying."

"That's the most stupid thing I've ever heard you say."

Jason lifted his palm at aimed it at the dame. I panicked. No. No more deaths. I was afraid that any more would be too much for my heart to take.

I flung myself in front of Jason. "Stop!" I held onto him as if he were life itself. "Please don't. I beg you," I said with tears still pouring out my eyes.

His expressionless face softened as he looked at me. "Of course." And he set his hand down.

The tension that had a strong grip over my chest dissipated. I almost forgot to breathe. I allowed myself to relax and let go of Jason.

But Jason wasn't finished.

He raised his arm again and pointed it to Adriana's face. She looked prepared for the worst; her eyes closed and brows furrowed with concentration. Jason balled his hand into a fist, pulling Adriana up into the air. She let out a loud groan and her face became pale white. Her features contorted into one showing hate and resentment.

I took in a sharp breath. Jason had promised. He then released her and allowed her to fall to the ground. She collapsed just like a rag doll, her hands randomly splayed across the dirt floor. She remained unmoving.

Adriana looked dead. Fear crept to the pits of my gut.

Jason wiped his hand on his jeans. "I just knocked her unconscious, or she won't let us pass." He then picked me up with his left arm and swung me over his shoulder, like I was property. "Better be off."

He sped off and I felt the familiar wind blow against my back. Drops of tears fell from my eyes uncontrollably.


End file.
